LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 



[FORCE COLLp:CTION.] ^ 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



f 



OF THE EXPEDIENCY OP AN 



Ecclesiastical Establishment 



FOR 



BRITISH INDIA i 



BOTH AS THE MEANS OF 



??RPETUATING THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION AMONG OUR 
^ OWN COUNTRYMEN } 



AND A3 

4 FOUNDATION FOR THE ULTIMATE CIVILIZATION 

OF THE NATIVES. 



BY REV. CLAUDIUS BUCHANAN, LL. D. 

One of the Chaplains, at the Presidency of Fort William in Bengaly Vice 
Provost of the College of Fort TVilliam, and Professor of Classics 
in the same ; and member of the Asiatic Society. 



SECOND CAMBRIDGE EDITION. 
CAMBRIDGE : 

PRINTED BY BILLIARD AND METCALF, 

For the " Society of inquiry on the subject ofmisaions^'^in 
Divimty College^ jindover. 

1811. 



6^ 



I 



CONTENTS. 



T I. 

On the means of preserving' the profession of the Christian 
religion among our countrymen in India, 

CHAPTER I. 

Page. 

Present state of the English church in India 13 

CHAPTER II. 
Of the establishment of the Romish church in the East 14 

CHAPTER III. 

Of the extent of the proposed ecclesiastical establishment 
for British India » - - - - -16 

CHAPTER IV. 

Considerations deduced from the propriety or necessity 
of an ecclesiastical establishment ^ - - 17" 

CHAPTER V. 
Objections to an ecclesiastical establishment considered 19 

PART II, 

Civilization of the natives. 

CHAPTER L 

On the practicability of civilizing the natives - 23 



CHAPTER 11. 

On the policy of civilizing the natives - - 26 

CHAPTER III. 
On the impediments to the civilization of the natives* 
The philosophical spirit of Europeans formerly an im- 
pediment to the civilization of the natives - 3S 

CHAPTER IV. 

The sanguinary superstitions of the natives an impedi- 
ment to their civilization - - - - 36 

CHAPTER V, 

The numerous holydays of the natives an impediment 
to their civilization - - * - - 38 

PART III. 

6/ the progress already made in civilizing' the natives of 

India* 

CHAPTER I. 

Of the extension of Christianity in India, under the influ- 
ence of episcopal jurisdiction - . - 40 

CHAPTER 11. 
Of the extension of Christianity in India, by the labours 
of protestant missionaries « - - - 44 



V 



APPENDIX* 

A. Record of the superstitious practices of the Hindoos^ 

now subsisting, which inflict immediate death, or 
tend to death ; deducted from the evidence of the 
Pundits and learned Brahmins in the College of 
Fort William 59 

B. Notes on the practicability of abolishing those prac- 

tices of the Hindoos, which inflict immediate death, 
or tend to produce death ; collated from the infor- 
mation and suggestions of the Pundits and learned 
Brahmins in the College of Fort William - 62 

C. A. D. 1802. Regulation VI. 64 

D. Report of the number of women, who have burned 

themselves on the funeral pile of their husbands 
within thirty miles round Calcutta, from the be- 
ginning of Bysakh (15th April) to the end of As- 
win (15th October), 1804 - - - 65 

E. Religious mendicants - - - - - 67 

F. Different Hindoo sects in Bengal - - ib. 

G. Ancient civilization of India - - - 68 

H. Excessive polygamy of the Koolin Brahmins 7*1 

I. Testimonies to the general character of the Hindoos 72 

K. Jewish Scriptures at Cochin - - - r4 

L, Shanscrit testimonies of Christ - - - 76 

M. Chinese version of the Scriptures ; and Chinese lit- 
erature -------77 



vi 

PREFACE 

TO THE 

FIRST AMERICAN EDI7V0.Y. 

THE title of this work might lead one to suppose, that it 
would coDtain nothing, but what should have an exclusive regard 
to an Ecclesiastical Establishment for British India. On exam- 
ination, nowever, it will be found to contain such important and 
well authenticated facts, relating to the past history and present 
state of that country ; to its population, manners, and customs ; to 
its literature and laws ; and to its religious rites and ceremonies ; 
as fur nish much entertainment and instruction. Separately from 
all consideration of the question respecting the expediency of the 
proposed Establishment, it is, both in a literary and religious point 
of view, a very estimable work. The arguments here adduced 
for a Church Establishment will, probably, be thought by many, 
if not most, readers conclusive. There seems an increasing con- 
viction, in England, of the expediency of this measure. A late 
English writer, having quoted some interesting passages from a 
chapter of this Memoir of Dr. Buchanan — whom he styles " an 
*' exc-iilent man," and a pious, beneficent, and most liberal church- 
" man," — observes, " Such an appeal is unanswerable. The first 
" &:ep tovvavus winning the natives towards our religion is to show 
" liiem that- we have one. This will hardly be done without avis- 
" ibie church."* 

But we leave this question to the proper judges. The prospect 
of extending, by some means, the benefits of civilization, and the 
infinitely greater benefits of Christianity, to the Natives of In- 
dia, is what gives to the subject, at this time, an unusual impor- 
tance. America is cooperating with Europe in this benevolent 
and pious design. Contributions have been forwarded from this 
country to India, towards procuring translations of the Scriptures 
into the languages of the East; and some of our young men have 
already devoted themselves to the Indian Mission. The present 
publication, it is believed, will be seasonable and useful. 

This work is now printed, for the first time in America, from 
a splendid English copy, in quarto (the only one that is known to 
be in this country), which was sent by a gentleman in England to 
a worthy minister in this State, who obligingly lent it for republi- 
cation. From this copy no alteration is made, excepting what 
will be found in the additional JVbtes^ which are always distinguish^ 
ed by the signature of the 

American Editor. 

Cambridge f Mass, J Feb, 181 L 

* Q-uirterlv Revie\r. 



TO THE 



MOST REVEREND FATHER IN GOD, 

JOHN, 

LORD ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY. 

MY LORD, 

I. It is with propriety that a work, embracing such 
objects as those professed by the following Memoir, 
should be inscribed to the Primate of the Church of En- 
gland. 

An appeal to the nation is certainly intended ; but 
that appeal would not have been thus made with the 
sanction of your Grace's name, had we not been encour- 
aged by the authority of your Grace's opinion. It has 
been communicated to us in India, that your Grace has 
already declared the expediency of giving an ecclesiasti- 
cal establishment to the British empire in the East. In 
support of such opinion, we here offer the evidence of 
facts, which are incontrovertible ; and which demon- 
strate that the measure proposed, while it is recommend- 
ed by religion, is demanded by justice and humanity. 

New sources of information on all Oriental subjects 
have been opened by the College of Fort William iu 
Beng-al. Those persons, who have held oliicial situa- 
tions in that institution during the last four years, have 
had constant opportunities of observing the conduct, and 
of learning the opinions, of the most intelligent natives. 
There are attached to the college, at this time, upwards 
of one hundred learned men, who have arrived, from dif- 
ferent parts of India, Persia, and x\rabia. In such an as- 
semblage, the manners and customs of remote regions 
are distinctly described ; and their varying sentiments, 

* This Dedication was written before the death of the most Reverend 
Prelate was known at Fort William-. 



viii 



religious and political, may be accurately investigated 
and compared. 

Of the learned Hindoos, who have been employed as 
teachers, there were lately two from the Deccan, who 
profess the Christian faith ; and comport themselves ac- 
cording to Christian manners. Two Protestant mission- 
aries have also been attached to the institution ; one of 
whom is lecturer in the Bengalee and Shanscrit depart- 
ment ; and has been for many years employed in preach- 
ing in the Bengalee language to the natives in the north 
of Hindoostan, The other is a teacher of the Tamul or 
Malabar language ; and has been long attached to a mis- 
sion in the south of the Peninsula. 

More desirable means of obtaining accurate and ori- 
ginal intelligence could not have been presented to any 
one, who wished to investigate the state of the natives of 
India, with a view to their moral and religious improve- 
ment. 

It was the authenticity of this information, which chief- 
ly prompted me to record it in this Memoir. I should 
however have hesitated to submit it to the public, had I 
not been honoured with a communication from the Bish- 
op of London, who expresses his *' conviction of the in- 
" dispensable necessity of a religious establishment for 
" our Indian Empire." 

II. In the presence of the learned body of Asiatics as- 
sembled at the College of Fort William, the Christian 
Scriptures have been exhibited for translation into the 
Oriental tongues. 

When Ptolemy Philadelphus, three hundred years be^ 
fore the Christian aera, invited to Alexandria in Egypt, 
seventy- two learned natives of Judea, to translate the 
Scriptures into the Greek language,* he could not have 
foreseen that his translation was divinely intended to be 
the means of the world's civilization, by diffusing the 
knowledge of the true God ; or that the Messiah prom- 
ised therein, would in a future age quote its language, as 
the canonical version of the sacred original. 

• The expense of which is computed by Prideaux to have amounted to 
two millions sterling". 



ix 

This illustrious act of an heathen Prince, acknowledg- 
ed, as it has been, by heaven, and celebrated among 
men, has yet been rarely proposed by Christian nations^ 
as an example for their imitation. 

Under the auspices of Marquis Wellesley, who, by 
favour of Providence, now presides in the government of 
India, a version of the holy Scriptures may be expected, 
not in one language alone, but in seven of the Oriental 
tongues ; in the Hindoostanee, Persian, Chinese, and 
Malay ; Orissa, Mahratta, and Bengalese ; of which the 
four former are the primary and popular languages of the 
Continent and Isles of Asia* 

In the centre of the Pagan world, and at the chief seat 
of superstition and idolatry, these works are carried on ; 
and the unconverted natives assist in the translations. 
The Gospels have already been translated into the Per- 
sian, Hindoostanee, Mahratta, Orissa, and Malay langua- 
ges ; and the whole Scriptures have been translated in- 
to the Bengalee language. One edition of the Bengalee 
Bible has been distributed among the natiyes ; and a sec- 
ond is in the press for their use. A version of the Scrip- 
tures in the Chinese language (the language of three 
hundred millions of men) has also been undertaken ; 
and a portion of the work is already printed off.* 

III. The publication of an important part of this Me- 
moir was suggested by the perusal of certain letters, ad- 
dressed by a King of England to the Christian instruc- 
tors of the Hindoos. In the following pages your Grace 
will find letters written by King GeorQ;e the First, to 
Protestant missionaries in India ; in which his Majesty 
urges them to a zealous and faithful discharge of their 
ministry, that they may lay a foundation for the civiliza- 
tion of the nations of Asia ; and " that the work may 
not fail in generations to come." 

When I first saw these royal epistles, and reflected on 
the period of time at which they were written, and the 
circumstances of the people to whom they were address- 
ed, I perused them with emotions of reverence and ad- 
miration. When further I had called to mind the hap- 
py effects they had contributed to produce, in enlight- 
ening a region of Paganism not less in extent than Great 

* See Appendix M. 2 



X 

Britain, it seemed to me, that a circumstance so honour- 
able to our country ought not to be concealed, and that 
the Hindoos ought to send back these letters to the Eng- 
lish nation. 

Another letter accompanies them, of equal celebrity 
in India, written by the Archbishop of Canterbury in the 
reign of the same Prince. This letter, often since re- 
corded in Oriental tongues, is sent back by the evangel- 
ized Hindoos to your Grace, and to the " Society of 
" Bishops and Clergy for promoting Christian Knowl- 
" edge," as a record of the honourable zeal which at so 
early a period distinguished that illustrious body ; and 
as a proof, that when the appointed means are used, the 
blessing of God will follow. " Behold," say the Hin- 
doos, " the divine answer to the prayer in that letter I 
" Behold the fruit of your rational endeavours for our 
" conversion! Our dark region having enjoyed, during 
" the period of a whole century, the clear and steady 
" light of your Society, has now become itself the source 
" of knowledge to the surrounding heathen." 

IV. Our present most gracious Sovereign, who has 
reigned, for so many years, in the hearts and affections 
of his subjects, both in Britain and in India ; and who, 
by strengthening the bands of true religion in a dissolute 
and unbelieving age, has exhibited so perfect an example 
of the duty, conduct, and glory of a Christian King, will 
doubtless receive with satisfaction, from the hands of the 
Hindoos, these letters of his illustrious predecessor : and 
having perused the testimonies of the divine blessing on 
the righteous and kingly work, will finish what has been 
so auspiciously begun, by making a religious Establish- 
ment for his Eastern Empire, the crowning act of his 
own most glorious reign. 

To their Sovereign they look ; to Him, the su- 
preme head of the Church, his Indian subjects look, for 
those religious blessings, which, by the divine favour, 
are in his right hand to bestow. 

I have the honour to be, my Lord, 
Your Grace's most faithful and devoted servant, 

CLAUD. BUCHANAN. 

CalcutCa, March 12, 1805, 



INTRODUCTION. 



By the reduction of the Mysorean and Mahratta em- 
pires, the greater part of India falls under the dominion 
or influence of the British Government, and looks submis- 
sively for British civilization. By this event also, in con- 
nexion with the other late cessions and conquests, the 
number of British subjects in India will be very consid- 
erably increased. 

Were we in the vicinity of Britain, the British 
Parliament would not withhold from us any beneficial 
aid it could afford, and we should enjoy religious advan- 
tages in common with our countrymen at home. But 
these advantages have been hitherto denied, because we 
are remote. An annual account of the revenual state of 
India, or the occurrence of some splendid event, engages 
the attention for a time ; but the ordinary circumstances 
of the people, European and native, are not always in 
view ; and any casual or indistinct notice of their situa- 
tion, fails to excite those national sentiments of humanity 
and Christian duty, which, in other circumstances, would 
be constantly alive and ei&cientc 

It may be presumed that India has of lat€ occupied 
more of the public attention than formerly, and that the 
minds of men are gradually converging to the considera- 
tion of the subject of this Memoir. Our extensive ter- 
ritorial acquisitions within the last fev/ years, our recent 
triumph over our only formidable foe ; the avowed con- 
sequence of India in relation to the existing state of Eu- 
rope ; and that unexampled and systematie- prosperity of 
Indian administration^ which has now consolidated the 



XII 



British dominion in this country ; — every character of 
our situation seems to mark the present sera, as that in- 
tended by Providence, for our taking into consideration 
the moral and religious state of our subjects in the East ; 
and for Britain's bringing up her long arrear of duty, and 
settling her account honourably with her Indian Empire. 

Tht perpetuity of the Christian faith among Euro- 
peans in India, and the civilization of the natives, must 
rest equally on a foundation which, as yet, we have not ; 
and that is, an Ecclesiastical Establishment. The first 
part of this Memoir shall be wholly confined to a consid- 
eration of the means of preserving the Christian religion 
^mong our own countrymen. 



MEMOIR, &c. 



PART 1. 

ON THE MEANS OF PRESERVING THE PROFESSION OF THE 
CHRISTIAN RELIGION AMONG OUR COUNTRYMEN IN 
INDIA. 



CHAPTER I. 

Present state of the English church in India, 

1. The present establishment of English chaplains for the 
British empire in India, is not much greater than the factorial 
establishment in the time of Lord Glive. 

2. There are six military chaplains for Bengal, Bahar, Oude, 
the Dooab, and Orissa. There are three chaplains in the town 
of Calcutta, five at the Presidency of Madras, and four at the 
Presidency of Bombay. Nor is that list ever full. Two-thirds 
of the number is the average for the last ten years. 

3. Some islands in the West Indies have a more regulai- 
church establishment, and more extensive Christian advantages 
than the British empire in the East. Jamaica has eighteen 
churches ; English India has three ; one at Calcutta, one at 
Madras, and one at Bombay. 

4. At the establishment of Bencoolen, at the factory at 
Canton, at the flourishing settlement of Prince of Wales's 
Island, at Malacca, at Amboyna, and at the other islands to 
the eastward now in our possession, there is not a single cler- 
gyman of the English church, to perform the rite of Baptism, 
or to celebrate any other Christian office. The two British 
armies in Hindoostan, and in the Dekhan, lately in the field, 
had not one chaplain. 

5. The want of an ecclesiastical establishment has produced 
a system, not only of extreme irregularity in the discipline of 
our church, but of positive offence against Christian institution. 
Marriages, burials, and sometimes baptisms, by the civil ma* 
gistrate or by a military officer, are not only performed, but 
are in a manner sanctioned by a precedent of thirty years. 



6. And as to the state of religion among the people who 
liave no divine service, it is such as might be expecttd. Af- 
ter a residence for some years at a station where there is no 
visible church ; and where the superstitions of die natives are 
constantly visible, all respect for Christian institutions wears 
away j and the Christian Sabbath is no otherv/ise distinguish- 
ed than by the display of the British flag. 

7. Were we, on the other hand, to state particularly the re- 
gard paid by our countrymen to Christian instruction, wherev- 
er it is regularly aftbrded, it would be an additional argument 
for granting the means of affording it. Wherever the Chris- 
tian minister solicits attention, he finds an audience. In what- 
ever part of British India he is stationed, there will be a dis- 
position to respect the* religion of early life, when its public 
ordinances shall have been revived. 



CHAPTER 11. 



Of the establishment of the Romzsh Church in the East^ 

ri-iERE are three archbishops and seventeen bishops of 
the Romish church established in the East. The natives 
naturally suppose that no such dignity belongs to the English 
church. In Bengal alone there are eight Romish churches ; 
four Armenian churches ; and two Greek churches. In con- 
firmation of this statement, we shall subjoin an authentic Re- 
port of the Roman Catholic establishments, which has been 
transmitted by the Archbishop of Goa. 

Establishment oj the Roman Catholic church in the East^ 

Archbishop of Goa, Metropolitan and" 
Primate of the Orient 

Archbishop of Cranganore in Malabar 

Bishop of Cochin, Malabar 

Bishop of St. Thomas, at Madras.* 

His diocese includes Calcutta ;} Presented by the King 
where he has a legate - - | of Portugal. 

Bishop of Malacca 

Bishop of Macao - - 

Bishop of Pekin _ - _ 

Two bishops in the interior of China 

Bishop of Mozambique » - - 

* [The Danish missionaries, Bartholomew Ziegenbalg-lus and John Ernest 
Grundier, in a Letter to the Societj in England for Fromoting Christian 



15 



Bishop of Siam - - - 1 Presented by the 

Bishop of Pegu - - - J Pope. 

Bishop of Varapoli, Malabar - 

Bishop of Bombay - - Presented by the Col^ 
Bishop of Thibet - - - |>Iee^e, De Propaganda 
Prefect of the Romish Mission at | Fide. 

Nepaul=* - - - - J 

One archbishop and three bishops at? Presented by the King 
Manilla, and the Philippine islands 3 of Spain. 

T,. , r-ra T u \T . C Presented bv the late 

Bishop of Pondicherry. Vacant - ^ King of France. 



Churches in Bengal^ and number of Priests attached to each. 



Church at Calcutta 
Church at Serampore 
Church at Chinsurah 
Church at Bandel 
Church at Cossimbazar 
Three churches at Chittagong 
Church at Backergunge 
Church at Bowal 



Three priests. 
One priesi. 
One priest. 
Three priests. 
One priest. 
Three priests. 
One priest. 
One priest. 



Armenian Churches, 



Church at Calcutta 
Church at Chinsurah 
Church at Decca 
Church at Sydabad 
Church at Madras 
Church at Bombay 
Church at Surat 



Three priests. 

One priest. 

Two priests. 

One priest. 

Three priests. 

One bishop and a priest. 

Two priests. 



Greek Churches, 



Church at Calcutta 
Chapel at Dacca 



- - - Three priests. 

One priest. 

1. The above establishments are at present full, with the 
exception of the bishopric of Pondicherry, w h^ch was formerly 
presented by the Kij^g of France ; and it is stated that the 
revenues are the same granted at the first endowment, with 
some exceptions of increase. 

Knoxdedge^ dated Tranqnebar January 9, 1713," observe, " The Roman 
** Missionaries tberaselves confessed to us at Madras, that their Congre- 
** g-ation in that pisce consisted of tioei've thousand members." Amer, Md.j 
• See Paper by him in Asiatic Researches, Vol. II. 



16 



2. On a view of the ancient and respectable establishment 
of the Romish church, we naturally desire to know its present 
character, and whether it can boast of a religious or civilizing 
efficiency. 

The Romish church in India is coeval with the Spanish and 
Portuguese empires in the East : and though both empires are 
now in ruins, the church remains. Sacred property has been 
respected in the different revolutions ; for it is agreeable ta 
Asiatic principle to reverence religious institutions. The 
revenues are in general small, as is the case in the Roman 
Catholic countries at home ; but the priests live every where 
in respectable or decent circumstances. Divine service is regu- 
larly performed, and the churches are generally well attended ; 
ecclesiastical discipline is preserved ; the canonical European 
ceremonies are retained ; and the benefactions of the people 
are liberal. It has been observed that the Roman Catholics 
in India yield less to the luxury of the country, and suffer less 
from the climate, than the English ; owing, it may be supposed, 
to their youth being surrounded by the same religious estab- 
lishments they had at home, and to their being still subject to 
the observation and counsel of religious characters, whom they 
are taught to reverence. 

3. Besides the regular churches there are numerous Romish 
missions established throughout Asia. But the zeal of con- 
version has not been known during the last century. The 
missionaries are now generally stationary : respected by the 
natives for their learning and medical knowledge, and in gen- 
eral for their pure manners, they ensure to themselvess a 
comfortable subsistence, and are enabled to show hospitality 
to strangers. 

4. On a general view of the Roman Catholic church, we 
must certainly acknowledge, that, besides its principal design 
in preserving the faith of its own members, it possesses a civil- 
izing influence in Asia; and that notwithstanding its constitu- 
tional asperity, intolerant and repulsive, compared with the 
generous principles of the Protestant religion, it has dispelled 
much of the darkness of Paganism. 



CHAPTER III. 

Of the extent of the proposed Ecclesiastical Establishment 
for British India, 

A REGULAR Ecclesiastical Establishment for British 
India may be organized without difficulty. Two bishops 
might suffice, if India were less remote from Britain : but the 



17 



inconvenience resulting from sudden demise, andTfrom th^ 
long interval of succession from England, renders it necessary 
that there should be three or more men ef episcopal dignity ; 
an archbishop and metropolitan of India, to preside at the seat 
of the supreme government in Bengal ; and one bishop at each 
of the two subordinate presidencies, Madras and Bombay, 
These three dioceses should embrace respectively all our con- 
tinental possessions in the East. To these must be added a 
bishopric for Ceylon, to comprehend all the adjacent islands, 
and also New Holland and the islands in the Pacific Ocean, 
The number of rectors and curates in each diocese must be 
regulated by the number of military stations, and of towms and 
islands containing European inhabitants ; with an especial 
attention to this circumstance, that provision may be made for 
keeping the establishment /w//, without constant reference to 
England. The necessity of such provision will be illustrated 
by the following fact : In Bengal and the adjacent provinces 
there is at present an establishment of six military chaplains ; 
but that number is sometimes reduced one half. When a 
chaplain dies or goes home, his successor does not arrive, in 
most cases, till two years afterwards. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Considerations deduced from the propriety or necessity of 
an ecclesiastical establishment, 

1. Has it ever been fully considered on what ground a 
religious establishment has been given to all the other depend- 
encies of Great Britain, and denied to India ? It might be 
deemed as sacred a duty of the mother countiy to support 
Christian institutions among w*, as among the English in the 
West Indies ; and particularly in Canada and Nova Scotia, both 
of which provinces are honoured with episcopal institutions. 
Our peculiar situation seems to give to us a yet higher title 
to such advantages. Living in a remote and unhealthy coun- 
try, amidst a superstitious and licentious people, where both 
mind and body are liable to suifer, we have, it will be allowed, 
as strong a claim on our country for Christian privileges as 
any other description of British subjects. Of the multitude of 
our countrymen who come out every year, there are but a few 
who ever return. When they leave England, they leave their 
religion forever. 

2. It will not be an objection to a church establishment in 
India, that it has the semblance of a Royal institution. Nor 
3 



18 



is it probable that it will be opposed on the ground of expense* 

By the late cessioiis and conquests, provinces have been added 
to our sov( reignty, whose annual revenues would pay the whole 
ecclesiastical establishment of England many times over. 

3. This is the only country the whole world, civilized or 
barbarous, where no tei th is paid ; where no twentieth, no hun- 
dredth, no thousandth part of its revenues is given by govern- 
ment, for the support of the religion of diat government ; and it 
is the only instance in the annals of our country w^here church 
and state have been dismembered* We seem at present to be 
trying the question, " Whether religion be necessary for a 
state whether a remote commercial empire, having no sign 
of the Deity, no temple, no type of any thing heavenly, may 
not yet maintain its Christian purity, and its political strength 
amidst Pagan superstitions, and a voluptuous and unprincipled 
people ? 

4. When the Mahometans conquered India, they introduced 
the religion of Mahomet into every quarter of Hindoostan, 
whf.re it exists unto this day ; and they created munificent 
endowments for the establishment of their faith. The same 
country under our sovereignty, has seen no institution for the 
religion of Christ. 

5. How peculiar is that policy.^ which reckons on the per- 
petuity of an empire in the liast, without the aid of religion, 
or of religious men ; and calculates that a foreign nation, an- 
nulling all sanctity in its character among a people accustomed 
to reverence the Deity, will flourish forever in the heart of 
Asia, by arms or commerce alone ! 

6. It is not necessary to urge particularly the danger from 
French infidelity and its concomitant principles, as an argu- 
ment for a religious establishment in India ; for although these 
principles have been felt here, the danger now is much less 
than formerly. Under the administration of M arquis Wellesley, 
Frenchmen and French principles have been subdued. And 
nothing would now so consolidate our widely extended domin- 
ions, or prove more obnoxious to the counsels of our European 
enemies in their attempts on this country, than an ecclesiastical 
establishment; which would give our etnpire in the East the 
semblance of our empire in the West, and support our English 
principles, on the stable basis of English religion. 

7. The advantages of such an establishment, in respect to 
"our ascendency among the natives, will be incalculable. Their 
constant observation is, that " the English have ?io religion 
and they wonder whence we have derived cur principles of 
justice, humanity, magnanimity, and truth. Amidst all our 
conquests in the East ; amidst the glory of our arms or policy ; 
amidst our brilliant display of just and generous qualities, the 



19 



Englishfnan is still in their eyes " the Cafir th:it is, the 
Infidel. 

8. The Scriptures have been lately translated into some of 
the vernacular languages of India. The natives read these 
scriptures, and there they find the principles of the English. 
" But if these Scriptures be true," say they, "-where is your 
church?" We answer, " at home." They shake the head, and 
say that something must be wrong ; and that although there 
are good principles in our holy book, they might expect some- 
thing mjre than internal evidence, if we would wish them to 
believe that it is from God ; or even that we think so ourselves. 



CHAPTER V. 
Objections to an ecclesiastical establishment considered, 

" Is an ecclesiastical establishment necessary ? Our 
commercial Indian empire has done hitherto without it." 

1. Perhaps the character of our Indian empire has suffered 
by the want of a religious establishment. From whatever 
cause it proceeded, we know that the moral principles of our 
countrvmen were, for many years, in a state of public trial be- 
fore the tribunal of Europe, in relation to this commercial em- 
pire ; and that Indian immorality was for a time proverbial. 

2. It was obs-^rved, in extenuation, at that period, that the 
case would have been the same with any other nation in our 
peculiar circumstances ; that India was remote from national 
observation ; and that seducements were powerful and nu- 
merous. All this was true. And vet we are the only nation 
in Europe having dominions in the East, which being aware of 
these evils, declined to adopt any religious precaution to pre- 
vent them. What then was to be looked for in a remote and 
extensive empire, administered in all its parts by men, who 
came out boys, without the plenitude of instruction of English 
youth in learning, morals, or religion ; and who were let loose 
on their arrival amidst native licentiousness, and educated 
amidst conflicting superstitions ? 

3. Since that period th? honour of the nation has been re- 
deemed, and its principles have been asserted in a dignified 
manner. An amelioration in the service, equally acknov/ledg- 
ed in the character and prosperity of our empire, has auspi- 
ciously commenced, and is rapidly progressive. 

4. But perhaps an objection will be founded on this acknowl- 
edged improvement. If so much, it will be said, can be done 
by wise administration and by civil institution, a churchj 



20 



may we not expect that the empire will for the future be propi- 
tiously administered, and flourish in progression, without the 
aid of a religious institution ? 

In answer to such an observation, we might ask, what it 
would avail the English nation that it were swayed by the 
ablest policy for the next ten years, if during that period, youth 
were denied the advantages of religious instruction, and 
the national church were abolished ? Peculiar as is the admin- 
istration of India as subject to Britain, no comparison can be 
instituted between its present consolidated empire, and its for- 
mer factorial state ; or between what was tolerable a few years 
ago, and what is expedient now. 

5- It cannot be justly objected to an ecclesiastical establish- 
ment in India, that it will promote colonization. It will prob- 
ably have a contrary effect. 

It is to be hoped indeed that the clergy themselves will re- 
main in the country to an old age, in order that they may ac- 
quire the reverence of fathers, and that their pious services may 
not be withdrawn, when those services shall have become the 
most valuable and endearing to their people. But it may be ex- 
pected that the effect of their Christian counsel, will accelerate 
the return of others ; by saving young persons from that course 
of life, which is so often destructive to health and fortune. 

6. What is it which confines so many in this remote coun- 
try, to so late a period of life ? The want of faithful in- 
structors in their youth. What is it which induces that des- 
pondent and indolent habit of mind, which contemplates home 
without affection, and yet expects here no happiness ? It is 
the want of counsellors in situations of authority, to save them 
from debt, on their arrival in the country ; and to guard them 
against that illicit native connexion, (not less injurious, it has 
been said, to the understanding than to the affections,) which 
the long absence of religion from this service has almost ren- 
dered not disreputable. 

7. Of what infinite importance it is to the state, that the 
Christian Sabbath should be observed by our countrymen here, 
and that this prime safeguard of loyal, as well as of religious 
principles, should be maintained in this remote empire. But 
how shall the Sabbath be observed, if there be no ministers of 
religion ? For want of divine servi^.e, Europeans in general, 
instead of keeping the Sabbath holy, profane it openly. The 
Hindoo works on that day, and the Englishman works with 

_him. The only days on which the Englishman works not, are 
the Hindoo holidays : for on these days, the Hindoo will not 
work with him. The annual investment sent to England, par- 
ticularly that belonging to individuals, has this peculiar to it, 
considered as being under the law of Christian commerce, 



21 



that it is, in part, the produce of Sunday lab6ur by Christian 
handse 

8. Does it not appear a proper thing to wise and good men 
in England, (tor after along residence in India, we sometimes 
lose sight of what is accounted proper at home,) does it not 
seem proper, when a thousand British soldiers are assembled 
at a remote station in the heart of Asia, that the Sabbath of 
their country should be noticed ? That, at least, it should not 
become what it is, and ever must be, where there is no relig- 
ious restraint, a day of peculiar profligacy I To us it would ap- 
pear not only a politic, but a humane act, in respect of these our 
countrymen, to hallow the seventh day. Of a thousand soldiers 
in sickly India, there will generally be a hundred, who are in a 
declining state of health ; who, after a long struggle with the 
climate and with intemperance, have fallen into a dejected and 
hopeless state of mind, and pass their time in painful reflection 
on their distant homes, their absent families, and on the indis- 
cretions of past life ; but whose hearts would revive within 
them on their entering once more the house of God, and hear- 
ing the absolution of the Gospel to the returning sinner. 

The oblivion of the Sabbath in India, is that which properly 
constitutes banishment from our country. The chief evil of 
our exile is found here ; for this extinction of the sacred day 
tends, more than any thing else, to eradicate from our minds 
respect for the religion, and aff'cction for the manners and in- 
stitutions, and even for the local scenes, of early life. 

9. Happy indeed it would be, were it possible to induce a 
learned and pious clergy to colonize in English India. They 
would be a blessing to the country. But let us rightly under- 
stand what this colonization is ; for the term seems to have 
been often used of late vrithout a precise meaning. If to colo- 
nize in India, be to pass the whole of one's life in it, then do 
ninety out of the hundred colonize ; for of the whole number 
of Europeans who come out to India, a tenth part do not re- 
turn. 

10. At what future period will a better opportunity offer for 
meliorating the circumstances of life in this country. Shall 
our Christian nation wait till centuries elapse, before she con- 
sider India otherwise than the fountain of luxury for the 
mother countr}^ ; while her sons, in successive multitudes, sink 
under the inhospitable climate, or perish in defence of the em- 
pire, denied the means of religious instruction and consolation, 
common to every other Christian people ! 

11. The slightest investigation, before a competent tribunal, 
of the state of our church, and circumstances of our country- 
men in India, will confirm fully the statement in the preceding 
pages : and will amplify the necessity of the measure proposed 



22 

in the mind of every man who is a friend to his country'3 hon- 
our or prosperity. 

12. It will be remembered that nothing which has been ob- 
served is intended to imply that any peculiar provision should 
be made immediately for the instruction of the natives. Any 
extensive establishment of this kind, however becoming our 
national ciaracter, or obligatory on our principles, cannot pos- 
sibly be organized to efficient purpose, without the aid of a 
local church. 

13. Let us first establish our own religion among ourselves, 
and our Asiatic subjects will soon benefit by it. When once 
our national church shall have been confirmed in India, the 
members of that church will be the best qualified to advise the 
state as to the means by which, from time to time, the civiliza- 
tion of the natives may be promoted. 



23 



PART II, 

CIVILIZATION OF THE NATIVES. 



CHAPTER I. 

On the firacticability of civilizing the natives* 

1. Supposing an ecclesiastical establishment to have been 
given to India, we shall now consider the result, in regard to 
the civilization of the natives."^ No immediate benefit is to 
be expected from it in the way of revolution ; but it may be 
demonstrated by a deduction from facts, that the most benefi- 
cial consequences will follow, in the way of ordinary effect, 
from an adequate cause. 

2. The expediency of increasing our church establishment 
in India, and of communicating Christian instruction to our 
Asiatic subjects, was debated in Parliament in the year 1793. 
The resolutions which recognize the general principle of 
" civilizing the natives of India," were carried, and now 
stand on record in the Journals of the House of Commons. 
It was considered, however, as an inauspicious moment (at 
the commencement of a perilous war) to organize the neces- 
sary establishment for India, and the bill was referred to fu- 
ture consideration. 

3. Since that period the situation and circumstances of 
both countries are materially changed. The French revolu- 
tion has imposed upon us the duty of using new means for 
extending and establishing Christian principles. Our territo- 
rial possessions in the East have been nearly doubled in ex- 
tent ; and thence arises the duty of cherishing the religion and 
morals of the increased number of our countrymen, who oc- 
cupy these possessions ; as well as of promoting ihe civiliza- 
tion of our native subjects by every rational means. 

4. To civilize the Hindoos v,iU be considered, by most 
men, our duty : but is it practicable ? and if practicable, would 
it be consistent v/ith a wise policy P It has been alleged by 
some, that no direct means ought to be used for the moral 
improvement of the natives ; and it is not considered liberal 
or politic to disturb their superstitions. 

* See Appendix G. 



24> 



Whether we use direct means or not, their superstitions 
will be disturbed under the influence of British civilization^ 
But we ought first to observe that there are multitudes who 
have no faith at all. Neither Hindoos nor Mussulmans, out- 
casts from every faith ; they are of themselves fit objects for 
the beneficence of the British Parliament. Subjects of the 
British empire, they seek a cast and a religion, and claim from 
a just government the franchise of a human creature. 

5. And as to those who have a faith, that faith, we aver, 
will be disturbed, whether we wish it or not, under the influ- 
ence of British principles : this is a truth confirmed by expe- 
rience. Their prejudices weaken daily in every European 
settlement. Their sanguinary rites cannot now bear the 
noonday of English observation : and the intelligent among 
them are ashamed to confess the absurd principles of their 
own casts. As for extreme delicacy toward the superstitions 
of the Hindoos, they understand it not. Their ignorance and 
apathy are so extreme, that no means of instruction will give 
them serious off'ence, except positive violence."^ 

6. It is necessary to be explicit on this point ; for it seems 
that, independently of its supposed policy, it has been account- 
ed a virtue at home, not to remove the prejudices of the ig- 
norant natives ; not to reprove their idolatry ; not to touch 
their bloody superstition ; and that this sentiment has been 
emblazoned by much eloquence and rendered very popular ; 
just as if we were performing an act of charity by so doing ; 
and as if it were so considered by the natives. It is not an 
act of charity on our part, nor is it so considered by them. 
They themselves tell us plainly why we do not mind their re- 
ligion ; " not because we fear to disturb their tranquillity, but 
" because we have no religion of our own." 

7. A Hindoo may live with his English master for twenty 
years, and never once hear him mention his religion. He 
gives then his master no credit for his delicacy in not prose- 
lyting him. But he gives him credit for this, that he is a hu- 
mane man, just in his conduct, of good faith in his promises, 
and indifferent about his (the Hindoo's) prejudices. The very 
reverse of all which, was his predecessor the Mahometan. 

8. Not to harass the natives unnecessarily on any subject is 
doubtless good policy : but in this case it is a cheap policy, for 
it is perfectly natural to us, and therefore has ever been main- 
tained. Did we consider their moral improvement equal in 

• The Christian missionary is always followed by crowds of the common 
people, who listen with great pleasure to the disputation between him and 
the Brahmins ; and are not a little amused when the Brahmins depart, and 
; appoint another day for the discussion. The people sometimes bring* back 
the Brahmins by constraint, and urge them to the contest again. 



importance to tribute or revenue, we should long ago have at- 
tempted it. We can claim no merit thenior this for hear ance^ 
for it arises from our own unconcern about the Christian re- 
ligion. 

9. But so great is the truth and divine excellence of our 
religion, that even the principles which flow from it remotely, 
lead the heathens to inquire into its doctrine, the fountain. 
Natives of all ranks in Hlndoostan, at their courts and in their 
bazars, behold an awful contrast between their base and illib- 
eral maxims, and our just and generous principles. Of this 
they discourse to each other, and inquire about the cause, but 
we wi/l not tell them. We are ashamed to confess that these 
principles flow from our religion. We would indeed rather 
acknowledge any other source. 

10. The action of our principles upon them ts nevertheless 
constant ; and some aid of religious consideration, on our 
part, would make it effective. They are a divided people. 
They have no common interest. There is no such thing as a 
hierarchy of Brahminical faith in Hindoostan, fixed by certain 
tenets, and guided by an infallible head. They have no ec- 
clesiastical polity, church government, synods, or assemblies. 
Some Brahmins are supported by hereditary lands granted to 
a family or attached to a temple, and pass their time in passive 
ignorance, without concern about pu''>lic affairs. Brahmins 
having no endowment, engage in lay offices, as shopkeepers, 
money-lenders, clerks and writers ; or in other inferior and 
servile occupations. Others seek a religious character, and 
prosecute study at some of the Hindoo schools, of which there 
are a great number in Hindoostan. These are, in general, 
supported by the contributions of their students, or by public 
alms. The chief of these schools are Benares, Nuddeea, and 
Ougein. Benares has acquired a higher celebrity for general 
learning than the other schools. But a Brahmin of Nuddeea 
or of Calcutta, acknov/ledges no jurisdiction of a Brahmin at 
Benares, or of any other Brahmin in Hindoostan. The 
Brahminical system, from Cape Comorin to Tibet, is purely 
republican, or rather anarchical.^ The Brahmins of one pro- 
vince often differ in their creed and customs from those in 
another. Of the chief Brahmins in the college of Fort Wil- 
liam, there are few (not being of the same district) who will 
give the same account of their faith, or refer to the same sacred 
books. So much do the opinions of some of those now in the 
college differ, that they will not so much as worship or eat 
with each other. The Brahmins in general cannot read their 
sacred books. Their ignorance of vv-riting and of the geogra- 

* See Appendix H. 

4 



26^ 

phy of the country is such, that there is no general communi- 
cation among them, political or religious. 

11. The natives of Hindoostan are a divided people. They 
have no common interest. To disseminate new principles 
among them is not difficult. They are less tenacious of opin- 
ion than of custom. In no other country has there been such 
a variety of opinions on religious subjects, for many ages past, 
as in Hindoostan. The aborigines of the country, denominated 
Hindoos or Gentoos, were not all followers of Brahma. Some 
were worshippers of the deity Boodh. The numerous nation 
of the Sleks, which is a secession from Hinduism, forms anoth- 
er great class. The inhabitants of the hills to the south ancl 
north of the peninsula, (according to some, the oldest race,) 
are again different from the former, and from> each other. All 
these different sects have their respective subdivisions, schisms, 
and contrarieties in opinion and in practice. And from all of 
them the Mahometans, who are now spread over all Hindoos- 
tan, are entirely distinct ; and from these again, differ the va- 
rious ramifications of the Christian faith. The sea coasts, for 
several centuries past, have been peopled by Portuguese, Ar- 
menian, Greek or Nestorian Christians ; and now the Protes- 
tant religion flourishes wherever it is taught- In no other 
country is there such a variety of religions, or so little concern 
about what true religion is, as in British India. A man may 
worship any thing or nothing. When one native meets another 
on the roacl, he seldom expects to find that he is of the same 
cast with himself. It has been calculated that there are an 
hundred casts of religion in India. Hence the Hindoo maxim, 
so grateful to the philosophers, that the Deity is pleased with 
the variety, and that every religion, or no religion, is right. 

To disseminate the principles of the Christian religion and 
morals throughout the provinces under our dominion, is cer- 
tainly very practicable,^ 



CHAPTER II. 

On the policy of civilizing' the natives. 

1. In governing conquered kingdoms, a Christian policy 
may be exercised, or a Roman policy. 

A Roman policy sacrifices religion to every other consider- 
ation in the administration of the new empire. The religion 
of the native is considered as an accident or peculiarity, like 

* See Appendix F. 



27 



that of his colour or form of body, and as being natural rather 
than acquired ; and therefore no attempt is made to change it. 
And this is correct reasoning, on the principle that all relig- 
ions are human and equal. The policy therefore founded on 
this principle, professes to cultivate the intellectual powers of 
the native in every branch of knowledge, except religion. 

It is evident that the administration of India during the last 
forty years, has been conducted on the principles of the Ro- 
man policy. The religion of the natives continuing the same, 
they have been properly governed by their own laws. 

2. A Christian policy embraces all the just principles of the 
Roman policy, but extends its aims of utility further by en- 
deavouring to improve the mind of the native in religious 
knowledge, as soon as the practicability of the attempt shall 
appear obvious. The practicability will of course be retarded 
in some conquered heathen states, by particular circumstances. 
But a Christian policy ever looks to the Christian religion for 
the perpetuity of empire ; and considers that the knoAvledge of 
Christian principles can alone enable the natives to compre- 
hend or to appreciate the spirit of Christian government. Our 
religion is therefore inculcated tor the following reasons gene- 
rally : 

1st. Because its civilizing and benign influence is certain and 
undeniable. We have seen that it has dispensed knowledge 
and happiness to every people, who have embraced it. 

2diy. Because it attaches the governed to their governors ; 
and facilitates our intercourse with the natives. There can 
never be confidence, freedom and affection between the people 
and their sovereign, where there exists a difference in religion. 

3dly. The Christian religion is inculcated on account of its 
ETERNAL SANCTIONS ; and the solemn obligation of Christians 
to proclaim them, whenever an opportunity shall be afforded 
by Providence of doing it with probable success ; it being by 
no means submitted to our judgment, or to our notions of pol- 
icy, whether we shall embrace the means of imparting Christian 
knowledge to our subjects or not ; any more than it is sub- 
mitted to a Christian father, whether he shall choose to in- 
struct his family or not. 

These motives will acquire additional weight, if, first, the 
natives be subject to an immoral or inhuman superstition ; 
and, secondly, if we voluntarily exercise dominion over them, 
and be benefitted by that dominion. 

3. The question of policy, regarding the instruction of our 
native subjects, the Mahometans and Hindoos, is to be deter- 
mined by the consideration of their moral state. 

The Mahometans profess a religion, which has ever been 
ehai-acterised by political bigotr\^ and intemperate zeal. In 



^8 



this country that religion stUl retains the character of its blcodv 
origin ; particularly among the higher classes. Vv henever 
the Mahometan feels his religion touched, he grasps his dag- 
ger. This spirit was seen in full operation under 1 ippoo^s 
government ; and it is not now extinguished. What was the 
cause of the alarm which seized the English famiUes in Ben- 
gal after the late massacre of our countrymen at Benares, by 
the Mahometan chiefs ? There was certainly no ground for 
apprehension ; but it plainly manifested our opinion of the 
people. — We have consolidated our Indian empire by our 
power ; and it is now impregnable ; but will the Mahumetan 
ever bend humbly to Christian dominion ? Never, v/hile he 
is a Mahometan. 

4. Is it then good policy to cherish a vindictive religion in 
the bosom of the empire forever ? Would it not accord with 
the dictates of the soundest wisdom to allovv^ Christian schools 
to be established, where the children of poor Mahometans 
might learn another temper ; the good effects of which would 
be felt before one generation pass away ? The adult Hindoo 
will hardly depart from his idol, or the Mahometan from hi 
prophet, in his old age ; but their children, when left destitute, 
may be brought up Christians, if the British parliament please. 
But as matters now stand, the follower of Mahomet imagines 
that we consider it a point ol honour to reverence his faitii and 
to despise our own* For he, every day, meets with Europe- 
ans, who wodld more readily speak with disrespect of their 
own religion, than of his. No where is the bigotry of this in- 
tolerant faith nursed with more tenderness than . in British In- 
dia, While it is suffering concussion in every other part of 
the world, even to Mecca, its centre, (as by a concurring pro- 
vidence, towards its final abolition,) here it is fostered in the 
peaceful lap of Christian liberality. 

5. A wise policy seems to demand that we should use every 
means of coercing this contemptuous spirit of our native sub- 
jects. Is there not more danger of losing this country, in the 
revolution of ages, (for an empire without a religious estab- 
lishment cannot stand forever,) by leaving the dispositions and 
prejudices of the people in their present state, than by any 
change that Christian knowledge and an improved state of 
civil society, would produce in theni ? And would not Chris- 
tianity, more efF:ctually than any thing else, disunite and seg- 
regate our subjects from the neighbouring states, who are now 
of the si^.me religion v/ith themselves ; and between whom 
there must ever be, as there ever has been, a constant dispo- 
sition to confederacy and to the support of a common interest ? 
At present there is no natural bond of union between us and 
them. There is nothing common in laws, language, or relig« 



29 



ion, in interejit, colour or country. And what is chiefly "wor- 
thy of notice, we can approach them in no other v/ay than by 
the means of om- religioiu^'s' 

6. The moral state of the Hindoos is represented as bevng 
still worse than that of the iMahometans. Those, who have 
had the best opportuniik io of kviov^m^ tiicni, and who have 
known ihcm for the ioiigt time, concur in declaring that nei- 
ther truth, nor honesty, lionour, gratitude, nor charity, is to be 
found, pure in the breast oi' a Hindoo. ilow can it be other- 
wise ? The Hindoo cliilclrcn have no moral infitruction. If 
the inhabitants of tlie Bj itlsh isles had no moral instruction, 
would they be moral? The Hindoos have no mordX books. 
What branch of their mythology has not more of falsehood 
and vice in it, than of truth and virtue ? 'i hey have no mioral 
q'ods. The robber and the prostitute lift up their hands with 

he infant and the priest, before anhorri'ole idol of clay painted 
I ed, deformed and disgusting as the vices which are practised 
jcfore it.f 

7. You will sometimes hear it said that the Hindoos are a mild 
I d passive people. They have apathy rather than mild- 
n^cjs ; their hebetude of mind is perhaps their chief negative 
virtue. They are a race of men of v/eak bodily frame, and they 
have a mind conformed to it, timid and abject in the extreme. 
They are passive enough to receive any vicious impression; 
The Knglish government found it necessary lat( ly to enact a 

• The n^wly converted Christians on the coast of Malabar arc tlie 
" chief support of the Dutch East India Company at Cochin; and are al- 
** ways ready to take up arms in their defence. The Pag'ans and Muhom- 
*' etans arc naturally enemies to the Europeans, because tliey have no sim- 
** ilarity to them either in their external appearance, or in reg-ard to their 
** manners, their reli'non, or their interest, jf the English therefore do not 
'••endeavour to secure the friendsliip of the Christians in India, on whom 

can they depend ? How can t]\ey hope to preserve their possessions in 
** that remote country ? — In the above observations may be found one of the 

reasons why neither Hyder Ali noi- Tippoo Sultan could maintain their 
*' g-roiind ag-ainst the English and the king- of Travancore on the coast of 
*' Malabar. The g-reat number of Christians residing- there, whom Hyder 
** and his son every where persecuted, always took part with the Eng-lish." 
See Bartolomeo*s Voyag-e, pag-e 207, and note. 

** Ten thousand native Christians iost their lives during that waj'.*' 
Ibid. 149. 

f The Hindoo superstition has been denominated lascivious and bloody. 
That it is bloody, is manifest from the daily instances of the female sacri- 
fice, and of the commission of sanguinary or painful rites. The g-round of 
the former epithet may be discovered in the description of their religious 
ceremonies : " There is in most sects a right-handed or decent path ; and 
" a left-handed or indecent mode of worship." 

See Essay on the religious ceremonies of the Brahmins, by H. T. 
Colebrookc, Esq. Asiat. Res. Vol. VII. p. 281. That such a principle 
should have been admitted as systematic in any religion on earth, may be 
considered as the last effort of mental depravity in the invention of a super- 
stition to blind the understanding, and to corrupt the heart. 



30 



iaw againF.t parents sacrificing their own children. In ihe, 
course of the last six months, one hundred and sixteen women 
were burnt alive with the bodies of their deceased husbands 
within thirty miles round Calcutta, the most civilized quarter 
of Bengal.^ But independently of their superstitious practic- 
es, they are described by competent judges as being of a spirit 
vindictive and merciless ; exhibiLing itself at times in a rage 
and infatuation, which is without example among any other 
people.] But it is not necessary to enter into any detail to^ 
prove the degraded state of the Hindoos : for if it were de- 
monstrated that their moral depravity, their personal wretch- 
edness, and their mental slavery, were greater than imagina- 
tion can conceive, the fact would have no influence on those 
who nov/ oppose their Christian instruction. For, on the 
same principle that they v^^ithhold instruction from them in 
their present state, they would deny it, if they were worse. 
Were the books of the Brahmins to sanction the eating of hu- 
manfiesh^ as they do the burning of women alive, the practice 
would be respected. It would be considered as a solemn rite 
consecrated by the ancient and sacred pi*ejudices of the people, 
and the cannibal would be esteemed holy.if: 

* From April to October, See Appendix D. 

\ Lord Teig-nmouth, while President of the Asiatic Society in Bengal, 
delivered a discourse in which he illustrated the revengeful and pitiless 
spirit of the Hindoos, by instances which had come within his own knowl- 
edge while resident at Benares, 

In 1791, Soodishter Meer, a Bralimin, having i-efused to obey a sum- 
mons issued by a civil officer, a force was sent to compel obedience. To 
intimidate them, or to satiate a spirit of revenge in liimself, he sacrificed 
one of his own family. " On their approaching his house, he cut off the 
** head of his dece*sed son's widow, and threw it out." 

In 1793j a Brahmin named Ballo, had a qiiarrel with a man about a 
field, and, by way of revenging liimiself on this man, he killed his owji 
daughter. " I became angry, said he, and enraged at his forbidding me to 
" plough the field, and bringing my o^vn little daughter Apmunya, who was 
only a year and a half old, I killed her with my sword." 

About the same tinse, an act of matricide was perpetrated by two Brah- 
mins, Beechuck and Adlier, These two men conceiving themselves to have 
been injured by some persons in a certain village, they brought their nioth- 
er to an adjacent rivulet, and calling aloud to the people of the village, 
** Beechuck drew his scymetar, and, at one stroke, severed his mother's 
** head from the body ; with the professed view, as avowed by both parent 
** and son, that the mother's spirit might forever haunt those who had in- 
" jured them." Asiat. Res. Vol IV. p. 337. 

Would not the principles of the Ciiristian religion be a good substitute 
for the principles of these Brahmins of the province of Benares ? 

It will, perliaps, be observed, that these are but individual instances. 
True : but they prove all that is required. Is there any other barbarous 
nation on eartli which can exhibit such instances ? 

4: It is a fact that Iiuman sacrifices were formerly offered by the Hin- 
doos ; and as it would appear, at that period which is fixed by some authors 
for the «ra of tlieir civilization and refinement. 



ol 

8. During the last thirty years there have been many plans 
suggested for the better administration of the government of 
this country ; but no system which has not the reformation of 
the morals of the people for its basis, can ever be effective. 
The people are destitute of those principles of honesty., truth, 
and justice, which respond to the spirit of British administra- 
tion ; they have not a disposition which is accordant with the 
tenor of Christian principles. No virtues, therefore, no tal- 
ents, or local qualification of their governors can apply the 
most perfect systv^m of government with full advantage to such 
subjects. Something may be done by civil institution to amel- 
iorate their condition, but the spirit of their superstition has a 
continual tendency to deterioration. 

9. The European who has been long resident in India, looks 
on the civilization of the Hindoos with a hopeless eye. Des- 
pairing, therefore, of intellectual or moral improvement, he is 
content with an obsequious spirit and manual service. These 
he calls the virtues of the Hindoo ; and, after twenty years' 
service, praises his domestic for his virtues. 

10. It has been remarked, that those learned men who are 
in the habit of investigating the mythology of the Hindoos, sel- 
dom prosecute their studies with any view to the moral or reli- 
gious improvement of the people. Why do thty not ? It is 
because they think their improvement hardly practicable. In- 
deed the present circumstances of the people seldom become a 
subject ot their investigation. Though such a number of wo- 
men sacrifice themselves every year in the vicinity of Calcutta, 
yet it is rare that a European witnesses the scene, or even 
hears of the event* At the time that government passed the 
law which prohibited the drowning of children, or exposing 
them to sharks and crocodiles at Saugnr, there were many in- 
telligent persons in Calcutta who had never heard that such 
enormities existed. Who cares about the Hindoos, or ever 
thinks of visiting a village to inquire about their state, or to 
improve their condition ! When a boat oversets in the Ganges, 
and twenty or thirty of them are drowned, is the event noticed 
as of any consequence, or recorded in a newspaper, as in Eng- 
land ? or when their dead bodies float down the river, are they 
viewed with other emotions than those with which we behold 
the bodies of other animals ? 

11. A few notices of this -dnd w^ill at once discover to th^e 
accurate observer of manners in Europe, the degraded charac- 
ter ot the Hindoos in our estimation^ zuhatever may be the 
cause. What then is the cause of this disregard of the per- 
sons and circumstances of the Hindoos ? The cause is to be 
found in the superstition, ignorance, and vices of the Hindoo 
jpharacter ; and ii) nothing else.* 

* See Appendix I, 



32 



12. Now it is certain that the morals of this people, thougfe 
they should remain subject to the British government for a 
thousand years, will never be improved by any other means 
than by the principles of the Christian religion. I'he moral 
example of the few English in India cannot pervade the mass 
of the population. What then is to be expected as the utmost 
felicity of British administration for ages to come ? It is this, 
that we shall protect the country from invasion, and grant to 
the inhabitants to manufacture our investments in solemn still- 
ness, buried in personal vice, and in a senseless idolatry. 

13. Providence hath been pleased to grant to us this great 
empire, on a continent where, a few years ago, we had not a 
foot of land. From it we export annually an immense wealth 
to enrich our own country. What do we give in return ? Is 
it said that we give protection to the inhabitants, and adminis- 
ter equal laws ? This is necessary for obtaining our wealth. 
But what do we give in return ? What acknowledgment to 
Providence for its goodness has our nation ever made ? What 
benefit hath the Englishman ever conferred on the Hindoo, as 
on a brother ? Every argument brought in suppoitof the poli- 
cy of not instructing the natives our subjects, when traced to 
its source, will be found to How from principles of Deism, or 
of Atheism, or of Polytheism, and not from the principles of 
the Christian religion. 

14. Is there any one duty incumbent on us as conquerors^ 
toward a conquered people, resulting from our being a Chris- 
tian nation, which is not common to the ancient Romans or the 
modern French ? If there be, what is it ? The Romans and 
the French observed such delicacy of conduct toward the con- 
quered, on tlie subject of religion, that they not only did not 
trouble them with their own religion, but said unto them, " We 
" shall be of yours." So far did these nations excel us in the 
policy of not disturbing the faith of the natives." 

Can any one believe that our Indian subjects are to remain 
forever under our government involved in ther present barba- 
rism, and subject to the same inhuman superstition ? And if 
there be a hope that they will be civilized, when is it to begin^ 
and by whom is it to be effected ? 

15. No Christian nation ever possessed such an extensive 
field for the propagation of the Christian faith, as that afforded 
to us by our influence over the hundred million natives of Hin- 
doostan. No other nation ever possessed such facilitits for 
the extension of its faith as we now have in the government 
of a passive people ; who yield submissively to our mild sway^ 
reverence our principles, and acknowledge our dominion to be 
a blessing. Why should it be thought incredible that Provi- 
dence hath been pleased, in a course of years to subjugate this 



33 



Eastern empire to the most civilized nation in the world, y^^r 
this very purpose P 

16. " The facility of civilizing the natives," some wiil admits 
is gi'eat ; but is the measure safe ? It is easy to govern the 

*" Hindoos in their ignorance, but shall we make them as wise 
as ourselves ! The superstitions of the people are no doubt 
" abhorrent from reason ; they are idolatrous in their worship, 
" and bloody in their sacrifices ; but their manual skill is ex- 
" quisite in the labours of the loom ; they are a gentle and ob- 
" sequious people in civil transaction." 

In ten centuries the Hindoos will not be as wise as the Eng- 
lish. It is now perhaps nineteen centuries since human sacri- 
fices were offered on the British altars. The progressive civili- 
zation of the Hindoos will never injure the interests of the East 
India Company. But shall a Christian people, acknowledg- 
ing a Providence in the rise and fall of empire, regulate the pol- 
icy of future times, and neglect a present duty ; a solemn and 
imperious duty : exacted by their religion, by their public prin- 
ciples, and by the opinion of the Christian nations around 
them ! Or can it be gratifying to the English nation to reflect, 
that they receive the riches of the East on the terms of charter- 
ing immoral superstition ! 

1 7. No truth has been more clearly demonstrated than this^ 
that the communication of Christian instruction to the natives 
of India is easy ; and that the benefits of that instruction, civil 
as well as moral, will be inestimable ; whether we consider the 
happiness diffused among so many millions, or their consequent 
attachment to our government, or the advantages resulting from 
the introduction of the civilized arts. Every thing that can 
brighten the hope or animate the policy of a viriuous people 
organizing a new empire, and seeking the most rational means, 
under the favour of heaven, to ensure its perpetuity ; every 
consideration, we aver, would persuade us to diifLise the bless- 
ings of Christian knowledge among our Indian subjects. 



CHAPTER IIL 

On the impediments to the civilization of the natives. — The 
philosophical spirit of Europeans jormerlu an impediment 
to the civilization of the naiives, 

1. A CHIEF obstacle to the civilization of the Hindoos du- 
ring the last fifty years, is accounted by some to have been the 
unconcern of Europeans in India, particularly the French, as 
to their moral improvement, and the apathy with which fhev 
5 



34 



beheld their superstitions. This has been called the philoso- 
phical spirit, but improperly ; for it is a spirit very contrary to 
that of true philosophy. The philosophical spirit argues in this 
manner : " An elephant is an elephant, and a Hindoo is a 
" Hindoo. They are both such as natare made them. We 
" ought to leave them on the plains of Hindoostan such as we 
" found them." 

2. The philosophical spirit further shews itself in an admira- 
tion of the ancient systems of the Hindoos, and of the supposed 
purity of their doctrines and morals in former times* But 
truth and good sense have for some years been acquiring the 
ascendency, and are now amply vindicated by a spirit of accu- 
rate investigation, produced by the great encouragement which 
has been lately afforded to researches into Oriental literature. 

3. The College of Fort William will probably illustrate to 
the world what India is, or ever was ; for all the sources of 
Oriental learning have been opened. 

The gravity with which some learned drsquisitions have 
been lately conducted in Europe, and particularly in France, 
respecting Indian science and Indian antiquity, is calculated to 
amuse us. 

The passion for the Hindoo Joques seems to have been first 
excited by a code of Gentoo laws, transmitted with official rec- 
ommendation from this country, and published at home by au- 
thority ; and yet not by the code itself, but by the translator's 
preface, in which there are many solemn assertions impugning 
the Christian revelation, and giving the palm to Hindoo anti- 
quity. The respect due to the code itself seems to have been 
transferred to this preface, which was written by a young gen- 
tleman, who observ^es, "that he was held forth to the public as 
" an author, almost as soon as he had commenced to be a 
" man that he could not translate from the Shanscrit lan- 
guage himself, " for that the Ptmdits who compiled the code, 
"were to a man resolute in rejecting all his solicitations for in- 
" struction in this dialect ; and that the persuasion and influence 
" of the Govenor General (Mr. Hastings) were in vain exer- 
" ted to the same purpose." Having then translated the Gen- 
too Laws from a Persian translation, he thinks himself justifi- 
ed in believing, " that the world does not now contain annals 
" of more indisputable antiquity than those dehvered down by 

the ancient Brahmins ; and that we cannot possibly find 
" grounds to suppose that the Hindoos received the smallest 
" article of their religion or jurisprudence from Moses ; though 
" it is not utterly impossible that the dotrines of Hindoostan 
" might have been early transplanted into Egypt, and thushaye 
" become familiar to Moses."* 
* Preface to Gentoo Codei. 



35 



4. These sentiments for the first time ushered on the nation 
under the appearance of respectable sanction, were eagerly em- 
braced. The sceptical philosophers, particularly in France, 
hoped that they were true : and the learned in general were 
curious to explore this sacred mine of ancient literature. " Om- 
ne ignotum pro magnifico." Strangers to the language, they 
looked into the mystical records of the Brahmins as into the 
mouth of a dark cavern of unknown extent, probably inacces- 
sible, perhaps fathomless. Some adventurers from the Asiatic 
Society entered this cavern,^ and brought back a report very 
unfavourable to the wishes of the credulous infidel. But the 
college of Fort William holds a torch which illuminates its 
darkest recesses. And the result is, that the former gloom, 
which was supposed to obscure the evidence of our religion, 
being now removed ; enlightened itself, it reflects a strong 
light on the Mosaic and Evangelic Scriptures, and Shanscrit 
Record may thus be considered as a new attestation to the 
truth of Christianity, granted by the divine dispensation, to 
these latter ages.* 

5. The whole library of Shanscrit learning is accessible to 
members of the college of Fort William. The old keepers of 
this library, the Pundits, who would give no access to the 
translator of the Gentoo code, or to the then Governor of In- 
dia, now vie with each other in giving every information in 
their power. Indeed there is little left for them to conceal. 
Two different grammars of the Shanscrit language are now 
compiling in the college, one by the Shanscrit professor ; and 
the other by the Shanscrit teacher, without any communication 
as to each other's system, so absolute is their confidence in a 
knowledge of the language. The Shanscrit teacher proposed 
to the council of the college to publish the whole of the orig- 
inal Shasters in their own character, with an English transla- 
tion. The chief objection to this was, that we should then 
publish many volumes, which few would have patience to read. 
Such parts of them however as are of a moral tendency, or 
which illustrate important facts in Eastern history or science, 
were recommended for publication. 

6. It does not appear that any one work in Shanscrit litera- 
ture has yet been discovered, which can vie in antiquity with 
the poem of Homer, on the plain ground of historical evidence, 
and collateral proof. It is probable that there may be some 
work of an older date ; but we have no evidence of it. If ever 
such evidence should be obtained, the world will soon hear of 
it. As to the alleged proof of antiquity from astronomical cal- 
culation, it is yet less satisfactory than that from the Egyp- 
tian zodiac, or Brydone's laya.f 

* See Appendix L. 

I The editors of the Asiatic Researches in London have availed diem- 



36 



What use shall we make of the illustration of these fact&^ 
but to urge, that, since the dark traditions of India have con- 
firmed the truth of divine Revelation, the benefits of that Rev- 
elation may be communicated to India. 



CHAPTER IV. 

The sangidnat y superstitions of the natives^ an impedimeJit 
to their civilization, 

1, Another impediment to the civilization of the natives 
is the continuance of their sanguinary superstitions, by which 
we mean those practices which inflict immediate death, or 
tend to produce death. All bloody superstition indurates the 
heart and affections, and renders the understanding inaccessi- 
ble to moral instruction. No ingenuous arts can ever human- 
ize the soul addicted to a sanguinary superstition. 

We shall not pollute the page with a description of the hor- 
rid rites of the religion of Brahma. Suffice it to say that no 
inhuman practices in New Zealand, or in any other newly 
discovered land of savages, are more offensive to natural feel- 
ing, than some of those which are committed by the Hindoo 
people. 

It surely has never been asserted that these enormities can- 
not be suppressed. One or two instances may be mentioned, 
which will shew that the Hindoo superstitions are not im- 
pregnable. 

2. It had been the custom from time immemorial, to im- 
molate at the island of Saugor, and at other places reputed ho- 
ly on the banks of the Ganges, human victims, by drownings 
or destruction by sharks. Another horrid practice accompa- 
nied it, which was the sacrifice of the first born child of a wo- 
man, who had been long barren.* 

The Pundits and chief Brahmins of the college of Fort 
William were called upon to declare, by what sanction in their 
Shasters, these unnatural cruelties were committed. They 
alleged no sanction but custom^ and what they termed the 
" barbarous ignorance of the low casts." On the first intimation 

selves of the occasion of that vs^^ork's behig republished at home, to prefix a 
preface to the fifth volume, containing" sentiments directly contrary to those 
professed and published by the most learned members of the Asiatic Soci- 
ety. They will be much obliged to the London editors of that work to take 
no such liberty in futiu-e ; but to allow the Society to write its own prefaces, 
^nd to speak for itself We are far off from France here. The Society 
professes" no siich philosophy. 

* At the Hindoo festival in 1801, twenty-three persons sacrificed them^ 
selves^ or were sacrificed by others, at the island of Saugor. 



/ 



37 

©f the practice to the Governor General Marquis Wellesley^ 
it was abolished.'^ Not a murmur followed ; nor has any at- 
tempt of the kind since been heard of. 

3. A similar investigation will probably soon take place re- 
specting the custom of women burning themselves alive on the 
death of their husbands.f The Pundits have already been cal- 
led on to produce the sanction of tht ir Sliasters. The pas- 
sages exhibited are vague and general in their meaning ; and 
differently interpreted by the same casts-^ Some sacred vers- 
es commend the practice, but none command it ; and the 
Pundits refer once more to ciLsto?n, I'hey have however in- 
timated, that if government v/ill pass a regulation, amercing 
by fine every Brahmin who attends a burning, or every Ze- 
mindar who permits him to attend it, the practice cannot pos- 
sibly long continue ; for that the ceremony, unsanctified by the 
presence of the priests, will lose its dignity and consequence 
in the eyes of the people. 

The civilized world may expect soon to hear of the aboli- 
tion of this opprobrium of a Christi-m administration, the fe- 
male sacrifice ; which has subsisted, to our certain knowledge, 
since the time of Alexander the Great. 

4. An event has just occurred, which seems, with others, 
to mark the present time, as favourable to our endeavour to 
qualify the rigour of the Hindoo superstition. 

In the course of the Mahratta war, the great temple of Jag- 
gemaiit in Orissa has fallen into our hands. This temple is 
to the Hindoos what Mecca is to the Mahometans. It is 
j-esorted to by pilgrims from every quarter of India. It it the 
chief seat oi Brahminical power, and a strong-hold of their su- 
perstition. At the annual festival of the Rutt Jattra, seven 
Jiundred thousand persons (as has has been computed by the 
Pundits in college) assemble at this place. The voluntary 
deaths in a single year, caused by voluntary devotement,§ by 
imprisonment for nonpayment of the demands of the Brah- 
mins, or by scarcity of provisions for such a multitude, is in- 
credible. The precincts of the place are covered with bones» 
Four coss sqiiare (about sixty-four square miles) are account- 
ed sacred to Jaggernaut. Within the walls the priests exer- 
cised a dominion without control. From them there was no 
appeal to civil law or natural justice, for protection of life oi 
property. But these enormities will not be permitted undei" 

* See Regulation. Appendix C. 

f From a late investigation it appears that the number of women wh^ 
^sacrifice themselves within thirty miles round Calcutta every year is, on aai 
average, upwards of two hundred. See Appendix D. 

\ See Appendix A. 

§ By falling under the wheels of the vvAX or c^r. 



38 



the British government. At the same time that we use no 
coercion to prevent the superstitions of the natives, we permit 
a constant appeal to the civil power against injustice, oppres- 
sion, and inhumanity ; and it must have a beneficial influence 
on the whole Hindoo system, if we chastise the enormity of 
their superstition at the fountain head.* 



CHAPTER V. 

The ?iwnerous holydays of the natives an impediment to their 
vivilizatioJi, 

1. Another obstacle to the improvement of the natives is 
the great number of their holydays. These holydays embody 
their superstition. On such days, its spirit is revived, and its 
inhuman practices aie made familiar: and thus it acquires 
strength and perpetuity. The malignity of any superstition 
may be calculated almost exactly by the number of its holy- 
days, for the more the mind is enslaved by it, the more volu- 
minous will be its ritual, and more frequent its ceremonial of 
observance. 

2. In the Hindoo calendar there are upwards of an hun- 
dred holydays ;f and of these government recognises officially 
a certain number. In addition to the native holydays, the fif- 
ty-two Christian holydays, or fifty-two Sundays in the year, 
are (on Christian principles) generally allowed to natives em- 
ployed in the public service. During those Hindoo holydays 
which are officially recognised, the public offices are shut up, 
on account of the festival (as it is termed) of Doora Puja, of 

* The rig'our of the Mahometan faith coerced tlie Hindoo superstition ; 
and was, so far, friendly to humanity. Tlie Hindoos were prohibited from 
burning their women without official permission. Our toleration is cele- 
brated by some, as being* boundless. It is just to tolerate speculative relig"* 
ions : but it is doubtful whether there ought to be any toleration of practical 
vice, or of the shedding of human blood. 

All religions," says Colonel Dow, must be tolerated in Bengal, ex- 
** cept in the practice of some inhuman customs, which the Mahometans 
already have in a great measure destroyed. We must not permit young 
** widows, in their virtuous enthusiam, to throw themselves on the funeral 
** pile with their dead husbands, nor the sick and aged to be drowned, when 
their friends despair of their lives." Dow's History, Vol. III. p. 128. 

This passage was written by Colonel Dow upwards of thirty years ago. 
How many thousands of our subjects witliin the province of Bengal alone, 
have perished in the flames and in the river, since that period ! 

f The Brahmins observe two hundred and upwards,^ 



39 



Churruck Puja, of Rutt Jattra,* or of some other* But great 
detriment to the public service arising from the frequent re- 
currence of these Saturnalia, government resolved some 3'^ears 
ago to reduce the number, which was done accordingly. It 
now appears that, on the same principle that a few of them 
were cut off, we might have refused our official recognition of 
any ; the Pundits having unanimously declared that these ho- 
iydays are not enjoined by their sacred books. 

3. It may be proper to permit the people in general to be as 
idle as the circumstances of individuals will permit ; but their 
religious law does not require us to recognise one of their ho- 
lydays officially. To those natives employed in the public ser- 
vice, the fifty-two Sundays are sufficient for rest from bodily 
labour.f To give them more holydays is to nurse their su- 
perstitions, and to promote the influx of religious mendicants 
into industrious communities.:|: In what other country would 
it be considered a means of promoting the happiness of the 
common people, to grant them so great a portion of the year 
to spend in idleness and dissipation ? The indulgence ope- 
rates here as it would in any other country ; it encourages 
extravagance, licentious habits, and neglect of business among 
themselves ; and it very seriously impedes the business of the 
state, and deranges commercial negotiation. 

• An Englishman will be of opinion that the Rutt Jattra cannot well be 
styled a festival, ** The rutt or car containing the Hindoo gods is drawn 
** along by the multitude, and the infatuated Hindoo throws himself down 
** before it, that he may be crushed to death by the wheels." This sacrifice 
is annually exhibited at Jaggernaut, Neither will the Churruck Puja be 
considered a festive occasion. At this Puja, "men are suspended in the 
** air by iron hooks passed through the integuments of the back.'* This is 
an annual exhibition at Calcutta. [See Appendix B.]] 

f No people require fewer days of rest than tlie Hindoos ; for they' 
know nothing of that corporal exertion and fatigue from labour, which in 
other countries render regular repose so grateful to the body and spirits. 

:t See Appendix E. 



40* 

PART III, 

OF THE PROGRESS ALREADY MADE IN CIVILIZING Tff£ 
NATIVES OF INDIA, 



CHAPTER f. 

Of the extension of Christianity in India^ under the influence 
of episcopal jurisdiction, 

1. A SENTIMENT has for some time prevailed in England 
very unfavourable to the measure of attempting the improve- 
ment of the Hindoos. It has been said that their prejudices 
are invincible ; and that the Brahmins cannot receive the 
Christian religion. If the same assertion had been made of 
our forefathers in Britain, and of the Druids their priests, it 
would not have been more contrary to truth. It is now time 
to disclose to the English nation some facts respecting the pre- 
valence of the Christian religion in India, which certainly will 
not be received with indifference. 

2. The religion of Christ has been professed by Hindoos in 
India from time immemorial ; and thousands of Bi^ahmins 
have been converted to the Christian faith. At this time 
there are upwards of one hundred and fifty thousand natives 
in one district alone on the coast of Malabar, who profess 
that religion, and who live under a regular canonical disci- 
pline, occupying one hundred and nineteen churches^ 

3. It is probable that the Christian faith has been known in 
India since the time of the Apostles.* But we have authen- 
tic historical record for the following particulars. In the fifth 
century a Christian bishop from Antioch, accompanied by a 
small colony of Syrians, arrived in India, and preached the 

* Euseblus relates that Pantjenus, of Alexandria, visited India about 
the year 189 ; and there found Christians who had the Gospel of St. Mat- 
thew in Hebrew, which they informed him they had received from St, Bar- 
tholomew. He carried a copy of it to Alexandria, where it existed in the^ 
time of Jerome. At the council of Nice in the year 325 the primate of In- 
dia was present, and subscribed his name. In the year following- Frumen- 
tius was consecrated primate of India by Athanasius at Alexandria. Fru- 
mentius resided in Hindoostan for a long period, and founded many church- 
es. He acquired g-reat influence among- the natives, ar.d was appointed 
guardian of one of their kings during his minority. See Eusebius, Hist* 
Eccl. 1. 3, c. 1. — Sozomenes, 1. 2, c. 24 ; and Socrates, Hist.Eccl. 1. 1, c> 29. 

In the year 530 Cosmos, the Egyptian merchant, who had travelled 
tUrougli the greatest part of the Indian peninsula, found in the Dekhun and 
in Ceylon, a great many churches and several bishops. 



41 



Cospel in Malabar, " They made at first some proselytes 
" among the Brahmins and Nairs, and were, on that account, 
*' much respected by the native princes."^ 

4. When the Portuguese first arrived in India, they were 
agreeably surprised to find a hundred Christian churches on 
the coast of Malabar. But when they had become acquainted 
with the purity and simplicity of their doctrine, they were of- 
fended. They were yet more indignant when they found 
that these Hindoo Christians maintained the order and disci- 
pline of a regular church under episcopal jurisdiction ; and 
that for thirteen hundred years past, they had enjoyed a suc- 
cession of bishops appointed by the patriarchal see of Antioch. 
Mar Joseph was the bishop, who filled the Hindoo see of 
Malabar at that period. The Portuguese used every art to 
persuade him to acknowledge the supremacy of the pope ; but 
in vain. He was a man of singular piety and fortitude, and 
declaimed with great energy against the errors of the Romish 
church. But when the power of the Portuguese became suf- 
ficient for their purpose, they invaded his bishopric, and sent 
the bishop bound to Lisbon. A synod was convened at Di- 
amper in Malabar, on the 26th June, 1599, at which one hun- 
dred and fifty of the clergy of his diocese appeared. They 
were accused of the following opinions, which were by their 
adversaries accounted heretical ; That they had married 
" wives ; that they owned but two sacraments, Baptism and 
" the Lord's Supper; that they denied Transubstantiation ; that 
*' they neither invoked saints nor believed in purgatory ; and, 
*' that they had no other orders or names of dignity in the 
^' church than bishop and deacon."f 

* " Many of them to this day preserve the manners and mode of life of 
* the Brahmins, as to cleanliness, and abstaining from animal food." A- 
siat. Res. Vol. VII. page 368. " The bulk of the St. Thome Christians 
*' consists mostly of converts from the Brahmins and Shoudren cast ; and 
not as the new Christians, or proselytes made by the Portuguese mission- 
•* aries, of the lowest tribes." Asiat. Res. Vol. VII. page 381. 

f Conferences with Malabarian Brahmins, page 15 : printed at London 
1719. [See The History of the Church of Malabar ^ translated from the Por- 
tuguese into English by Michael Geddes, Chancellor of the Cathedral 
Church of Sarvim. London, 1694. The Synod of Diamper met on the 
20th of June, and closed its session on the 26th. The Acts and Decrees 
of this Synod are subjoined to that History, Decree XIV of Action III 
condemns " The Book of Orders," used in the Malabarian Church, whiclj. 
contains the last article abovementioned, asserting, " That there are only 
** two orders, Biaconate and Priesthood*^ 

M. V. La Croze, who wrote his celebrated History nearly a century ago 
[1723], considered the discovery of this very ancient Church (almost all 
the tenets of which agree with those of the Protestants) as deserving the at- 
tention of all good men : " Ma seconde et derniei-e Remarque merite, ce 
*' me semble, 1' attention de toutes les personnes qui aiment sincerement la 
" Religion. Nous trouvons ici une Eglise tres-ancienne, dopt; presque torn 

6 



4'2 



Tiiese tenets they were caliecl on to abjure, or to suffer m'^- 
stant suspension from all church benifices. It was also de- 
creed that all the Syrian and Chaldean books in their churches^ 
and all records in the episcopal palace, should be burnt ; in 
order, said the inquisitors, that no pretended apostolical 
" monuments may remain,"* 

5. Notwithstanding these violent met\sureS', a great body 
of the Indian Christians resvolutely defended their faith., and 
finally triumphed over all opposition. Some shew of union 
with the Romish church was at first pretended, througli terror 
of the Inquisition ; but a congress was held by them on the 
22d of May, 1653, at Alangatta ; when they formally separat- 
ed from that communion^^f They compose a<? this day the 
thirty-two schismatic churches of Malabar ; so called by the 
Roman Catholics, as resembling the Protestant schism in Eu- 
rope. At this time their number is about fifty thousand. 

These churches soon afterv/ards addressed a letter to the 
Patriarch of Antioch, which was forwarded by means of the 
Dutch government, and published at Leyden in 1 7 14 ; in which 
they request 'Hhat a spiritual guide maybe sent, together with 
such men as are versed in interpreting the holy Scriptures.":^: 
But no spiritual guide was ever sent.§ 

The province of Malabar now forms part of the British do* 
minions ; and divine Providence hath placed th^se churches 
lander our government. 

6. The manners of these Chiistians are truly simple and 
primitive. Every traveller who has visited the churches ia 
the mountains take& pleasure in describing the chaste and in- 
nocent lives of the native Christians. The congregations sup- 
port each other, and form a kind of Christian republic. The 
clergy and elders settle all disputes among members of the 
community ; and the discipline, for the preservation of pure 
morals, is very correct, and would do honour to any Protes- 
tant church in Europe.^ 

les Dogmes Gonveniennent avec ceux de la Relig-lon reformee. Les 
*• Chretiens Orientaux, .... sous 1' obeissance d' un Patriarche independ— 
" ant d' 1' Empire Remain, et n' ayant aucun commerc eavec lui, ,. , , igno- 
** rent presque toutes les Traditions Romaines qui sont rejettees par les 

Protestants." Histoire bu C.hp,istia]siisme. des Indes, ii, 90.] 

Amer. Edit. 

* See Appendix K. f Annales Mission, page 193. 

t Malabarian Conferences, 1719. Preface. 

§ In the year 1752, some bishops were sent from Antioch to consecrate 
by episcopal ordination, a native pi'iestj one of their number. The old man, 
I hear, is yet alive. The episcopal residence is at Narnatte, ten miles in- 
land from Porca. 

^ At certain seasons, the Ag-apx, or love feasts, are celebrated, as 
primitive times. On such occasions they prepare delicious cakes, called. 



4^ 



7. The climate of Malabar is delightful ; and the face ot 
the country, which is verdant and picturesque, is adorned by 
the numerous churches of the Christians. Their churches are 
not, in general, so small as the country parish churches in 
England. Many of them are sumptuous buildings,^ and some 
of them are visible from the sea. 1 his latter circumstance is 
noticed incidentally by a writer who lately visited the country : 
" Having kept as close to the land as possible, the whole 
coast of Malabar appeared before us in the form of a green 
*' amphitheatre. At one time we discovered a district entirely 
covered with cocoa-nut-trees ; and immediately after, a river 
*' winding through a delightful vale, at the bottom of which it 
discharged itself into the sea. In one place appeared a mul- 
^' titude of people employed in fishing.; in another, a snoW- 
white church bursting forth to the view from amidst the 
thick-leaved trees. While we v/ ere enjoying these dclight- 
ful scenes with the early morDii.'g, a gentle breeze, which 
" blew from the shore, perfumed the air around us with the 
*' agreeable smcil wafted from the cardamon, pepper, beetel, 
" and other aroip.atic herbs and plants."! 

A isnow-v/hite church bursting on ihe view from auiidst the 
trees i Can this be a scene in tnc land of the Kmdoos ; where 
even a church for Europeans is so rarely found ? And can the 
persons repairing to these snov»^-white churclies be Hindoos ; 

Appam, made of bananas, honey, and rice-flour. The people assemble jji 
ihe clinch yard, and, arrang-ing- themselves in rows, each spreads before 
him a planliiin leaf. When this is done, the clej gyman, standing- in the 
church -door, pronounces the benediction ; and the overseers of tlie church, 
Vaiking- tlirough between tlie rows, gives to each his portion. It is cer- 
*' tainly an aficcting- scene, and capable of • levating- the heart, to behold 
six or seven thousand persons, of both sexes and of all ag-es^. assembled 
and receiving- tog-ether, with the utmost reverence and devotion, their 
** Appam, the pledg-e of mutual union and love." Bartolomeo, pag-e 424. 

Compai'e the an>iabie lives and character of these Chrislian Hindoos 
with the rltf.'s of their uncontrovertecL countrymen in Bengal described in 
Apperidix B. 

* " The great number of such sumptuous bullding-s," says Mr. Wrede, 
as the St. Tliome Christians possessed in the inland parts of the Travan- 
*' core and Cochin domir.ions, is really surprising- ,• since some of them, 
** upon a moderate calculation, must have cost upwards of one lack of ru- 
*' pees, and few less than half that sum " Asiat. Res. Vol. VII. p. 380. 

Almost all the temples in the southern jMalabai*, of which I had occasion 
** to observe more than forty, Vv^ere built in the same st) ie, and nearly on 
** the same plan. The facade with little columns (evidently the style o^ 
** architecture prevalent in Asia Minor and Syria) being- every where the 
same." Ibid. 379. 
In the year 1790, Tippoo the Mahometan destroyed a great number of 
the Christian churches, and a general conflagration of the Cliiistian villages 
marked the progress of his destroying host. Ten thousand Christians 
"their lives during the war. Bartolomeo, page 149. 



•f- Bailolomeoj p. 425. 



44 



that peculiar people who are supposed to be incapable of re- 
ceiving the Christian religion or its civilizing principles ? Yes, 
they are Hindoos, and now " a peculiar people," some of them 
formerly Brahmins of Malabar ; who, before means were used 
for their conversion, may have possessed as invincible preju^ 
dices against the religion of Christ as the Brahmins of Benares, 
or of Jaggernaut. 

Whatever good effects have been produced by the Christian 
religion in Malabar, may also be produced in Bengal, and in 
every other province of Hindoostan. 



CHAPTER IL 

Of the extensmi of Christianity in India by the labours of 
Protestant Missionaries, 

1. In the bill brought into Parliament in 1793 for comr 
municating Christian instruction to our Asiatic subjects, there 
was a clause for an " Establishment of Missionaries and 
*' Schoolmasters." Such an establishment (if it ever should 
be necessary) might seem more properly to follow^ than to 
precede, the recognition of our national church in Hindoostan. 
It is probable, however, that the proposition for sending mis- 
sionaries was less favourably received on account of the reign- 
ing prejudice against the name and character of " niissionary." 
In England it is not professional in church or state. No hon- 
our or emolument is attached to it. The character and pur- 
pose of it are doubtful, and the scene of action remote. Even 
the propriety of sending missionaries any where has been call- 
ed into question. 

2. It is not, however, those who send missionaries, but 
those to whom they are sent ^ who have a right to give an opin- 
ion in this matter. 

The sanie spirit which sent missionaries to Britain in the 
fourth century will continue to send missionaries to the heath- 
en world to the end of time, by the established church, or by 
her religious societies. 

3. Wherever the Christian missionary comes, he is well re- 
ceived. Ignorance ever bows to learning : but if there be a 
desire to impart this learning, whut barbarian will turn away t 
The priests will murmur when the Christian teacher speaks as 
one haying authority ; but " the common people will hear him 

gladly." Whether in the subterranean hut of frozen Green- 
land, or under the shade of a banian-tree in burning India, a 
Christian missionary surrounded by the listening natives, i§ an 



45 



Interesting sight ; no less grateful to liumanity than to Chris* 
tian charity. 

4. Bat who is this missionary? He is such as Swaitz ia 
India, or Brainerd in America, or the Moravian in Labrador ; 
one who leaving his country and kindred, and renouncing hon- 
our and emolument, embraces a life of toil, difficulty, and dan- 
ger; and contented with the fame of instructing the ignorant, 
" looks for the recompense of eternal reward." 

There is a great difference between a civilizing mechanic 
^nd an apostolic missionary. A mechanic of decent morals is 
no doubt useful among barbarians. The few around him 
learn something of his morals with his trade. And it is the 
duty of civilized states to use such means for imiproving the 
barbarous portions of the human race. 

But the apostolic missionary, who has studied the language 
and genius of the people, is a blessing of a higher order. His 
heavenly doctrine and its moral influence extend, like the light 
of the sun, over multitudes in a short time ; giving life, peace, 
and joy, enlarging the conceptions, and giving birth to all the 
Christian char. ties. How shall we estimate the sum of human 
happiness produced by the voice of Swartz alone ! Compared 
with him, as a dispenser of happiness, what are a thousand 
preachers of philosophy among a refined people ! 

5. Some of the English think that we ought not " to disturb 
" the faith of the natives." But some of the Hindoo Rajahs 
tl^ink differently. I'he king of Tanjore requested Mr. Swartz 
to disturb the faith of his wicked subjects by every means, and 
to make them, if possible, honest and industrious men. iNlr. 
Swartz endeavoured to do so, and his services were acknowl- 
edged by the English government at Madras,* as well as by 
the King of Tanjore. In the year 1787, " the King of Tan- 

jore made an appropriation forever of land of the yearly m- 
come of five hundred pagodas, for the support of the Chris- 
*' tian missionaries in his dominions."! 

6. In the debate in 1793, on the proposal for sending mis- 
jsionaries to India, some observation was made on Mr. Swartz, 
honourable to himself as a man, but unfavourable to his objects 
as a missionary. The paper containing this speech reached Mr. 
Swartz in India, and drew from him his famous Apology, pub- 
lished by the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge. 
Perhaps no Christian defence has appeared in these latter ages 
more characteristic of the apostolic simplicity and primitive 
energy of truth, than this Apology of the venerable Swartz. 

Without detailing the extraordinary success of himself and 

• By Lord Macartney and General Coote. 

t See Account of Proceeding's of Society for Promoting Christiatt 
3^nowie4ge, for X788. 



46 

his brethreti in converting thousands of the natives to the 
Christian religion, a blessing which some may not be able to 
appreciate ; he notices other circumstances of its beneficial 
influence, which all must understand. 

His fellow missionary, " Mr. Gericke, at the time the war 
broke out ?tt Cuddalore, was the instrument in the hand of 
Providersce, by which Cuddalore was saved from plunder 
" and bloodshed. He saved many English gendeinen from 
becoming j-risoners to Kyder Ali, which Lord Priacartney 
kindly acknowledged." 

Mr. Svrartz twice saved the fort of Tanjore. When the 
credit of the English was lost, and when the credit of the Ra- 
jah was lost, on the view of an approaching enemy, the people 
of the country refused to supply the fort with provisions ; and 
the streets w^ere covered with the dead. But Mr. Swartz went 
forth and stood at the gate, and at hu word they brought in a 
plerstiful supply. 

Mr. Swartz, at different tirnes, aided the English govern* 
m^nt in the collection of revenues from the refractory districts. 
He was appointed guardian to the family of the deceased King 
of Tanjore ; and he was employed repeatedly as mediator be- 
tween the English government and the country powers. On on-e 
occasion, when the natives doubted the purpose and good faith 
of the English, they applied to Mr. Swariz ; Sir, if you send 
^'^ a person to us, ^end a person v/ho ha-s learned all your Ten 

Commandments."* 

• See Society Proceedings for 1792, page 114. Should Mr. Swartz*g 
name be mentioned in any future discussion, the honour of ihe £nglidi na- 
tion is pledged to protect his fame The bishops and clergy of England^ 
in their account of proceedings of the " Society for promoting Cliristian 

Knowledge," for 1792, have sanctioned the following character of Mr. 
SAvartz : 

" Ke is an example of all that is great and good in the character of a 
** Christian inissionary. He hath hazarded his life through a long series of 
** years i'oi- the name of our Lord jesus Christ. His behaviour, while it 

has endeared him to the common orders of men, has procured him ad- 

mission before the throne of the proudest monarch of the East. There do 
*' we find this worthy servant of God, pleading the eause of Christianity, 

and interceding for his mission ^ and doing it without oflfence. There dp 
*' we find him renouncing every personal consideration ^ and, in the true 

spirit of the divine Lawgiver, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the 

people of God, than to enjoy any pleasures or distinctions which this world 
" could afibrd him ; esteeming the reproach of Christ and tlie advancement 

of a despised I'eligion far greater riches than Indian treasures." 

See Dr Glasse's Charge to a Missionary proceeding to India. It will 
not be foreign to the subject of this Memoir to insert another passage of 
tliat Charge : 

" Happy will it be, if our conquests in India should open the way for a 
•* further introduction of the Gospel, and for the extension and enlargement 
** of Christ's kingdom. What a lustoe v/ould such an accession give to 
the British conquests in the Easterly world, when it should appear, that 
" we have been conquering, not for ourselves alone, but for Mkn also t> 



T. Some of the English think that we ought not to di'sturf? 
the faith of the Hindoos ! /Vfter the apostolic Swartz had la* 
boured for fifty years in evangehzing the Hindoos, so sensible 
VftYQ they of the blessing, that his death was considered as a 
public calamity. An innumerable multitude attended the fu- 
neral. The Hindoo Rajah " shed a flood of tears over the bo- 

dy, and covered it with a gold cloth."* His memory is still 
blessed among the people. The King of Tanjore has lately 
written to the bishops of the English church, requesting that a 
monument of marble may be sent to him, " in order," he adds, 
" that it may be erected in the church which is in my capital, 

to perpetuate the memory of the late Rev. Mr. Swar .z, and 
"to manifest the esteem I have for the character of that great 
" and good man, and the gratitude I owe to him, my father and 
■ ' my friend " 

8. But whence was this Swartz ? and under w^hat sanction 
did he and his predecessors exercise their ministry as Chris- 
tian preachers to the heathen ? 

The first person appointed to superintend a Protestant mis- 
sion in India was Bartholomew Ziegenbalgius, a man of con- 
siderable learning and of eminent piety, educated at the Uni- 
versity of Halle in Germany. Having been ordained by the 
learned Burmannus, Bishop of Zealand, in his twenty-third 
year, he sailed for India in 1705. A complete century will 
have revolved in October of this year, since the mission in In- 
dia began. Immediately on his arrival, he apphed himself to 
the study of the language of the country, and with such suc- 
cess, that in a few years he obtained a classical knowledge of 
it ; and the colloquial tongue became as familiar to him as his 
own. His fluent orations addressed to the natives, and his 
frequent conferences wath the Brahmins,f were attended wnth 
almost immediate success ; and a Christian church was found- 
ed in the second year of his ministry,^ which has been extend* 
ing its limits to the present time. 

* Serfogee Maha Rajah of Tanjore. See Society Proceediug-s for 1801, 
p, 141. Let us hail this act as the emblem of the whole Hindoo supersti- 
tion bending- to the Cliristian faith. 

f A volume of these conferences was published in London in 1719, 8vq. 

[t A buildino; was now erected at Tranqucbar, at the expense of 250 per- 
dous, and was named Ne<w 'Jerusalem. It stood without the town, " in the 
midst of a multitude of Malabarians, near the liigh road, built all of stone." 
It v/as consecrated Aug-ust 34 1707, in the presence of a great concourse of 
Heathens, Mahometans, and Christians ! to whom a scrm^:. was preached 
both in Portuguese and in Malabarick. From that time the raisi.ionarics 
statedly preached in th'S church three times a week in both these lan- 
guages. Of their indefatigable dihgence, in this interesting mission, some 
judgment may be formed from a single fact, mentioned by Ziegenbalgius 
in 1708 : ** As for myself, (to whose share the learaing of the native laiJ 



48^ 

9> Daring hi§ residence in India he maintained a correspon- 
dence with the King of England and other princes, and with 
many of the learned men on the continent. In the year 1714, 
he returned to Europe for a few months on the affairs of th& 
mission. On this occasion he was honoured with an audience 
by his Majesty George the First. He was also invited to at- 
tend a sitting of the Bishops in the " Society for promoting 
Christian Knowledge where he was received with an elo- 
quent address in the Latin language ;^ to which he answered 
in the Tamul tongue ; and then delivered a copy of his speegli 
translated into Latin. 

10. The grand work to which the King and the English 
bishops had been long directing his attention, wa^ a translation 
of the Scriptures into the Tamul or Malabarian language. 

This indeed was the grand work ; for wherever the Scrip- 
tures are translated into the vernacular tongue, and are open 
and common to all, inviting enquiry and causing discussion, 
they cannot remain a dead letter j they produce fruit of them- 
selves, even without a teacher. When a heathen views the 
word of God in all its parts, and hears it addressing him in 
his own familiar tongue, his conscience responds, " This is the 
" word of God." The learned man who produces a transla- 
tion of the Bible into a new language, is a greater benefactor 
to mankind than the prince who founds an empire. The " in- 
" corruptible seed of the word of God" can never die. After 
ages have revolved, it is still producing new accessions to truth 
and human happiness. 

So diligent in his studies was this eminent missionary, that 
before the year 1719, he had completed a translation of the 
whole Scriptures in the Tamul tongue ;f and had also com- 

guage of this country is fallen) I have explained hitherto the Articles 
" of tlie Christian Faith in six and tvjenty Sundays sermons. These I 
** dictated to a Malabarick Amanuensis, and then got tliem by heart word 
by word." — The labours of these pious missionaries were so blest, that 
their Congregation increased every year ; and the first church being too 
small for its accommodation, a larger one was erected eleven years after- 
ward. It was consecrated in the name of the Holy Trinity, October 11, 
1718 1 and the missionaries soon after observed, in a letter to king George I, 
** We are now constanly pi-eaching in it in three languages " Amer. Ed.'] 

* Niecampius, Hist Miss. Orient page 190. [This Address was de- 
livered by William Nichols, A. M. Rector of Stockport, a member of 
the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge. It is pi'inted in the Ac- 
count of the Danish Mission to the East Indies, London, 1718, and there 
dated *' December 29, 1715." Amer. Edit.'] 

f Like Wickcliffe's Bible it has been the father of many versions. 
[Mr. Ziegenbalgh, in one of his Letters, having mentioned Madras, Viza- 
gapatnarriy Bombay, Cfc. observes, " In all these places the Daviuiian (Ta- 
*' mul) is the current language, and consequently the fittest vehicle for 
** conveying the Christian Truths to these people." The whole Nevj Tes- 
tament, in the Damulian language, was printed for the benefit of the Mal- 
abarian s, in 1714. A copy of this Version is in the Library of Harvard 
College. Amer, Edit.] 



49 



posed a grammar and dictionary of the same language, which 
remain with us to this day. 

11. The peculiar interest taken by King George the First 
in this primary endeavour to evangelize the Hindoos, will ap- 
pear from the following letters addressed to the missionaries 
by his Majesty. 

" George hij the Grace of God^ King of Great Britain^ France 
" and Ireland^ Defender of the Fazth^ £sPc. To the Reverend 
" and Learned Bartholomew Ziegenhalgius^ and John Ernest 
" Grundlerus^ Missionaries at Tranquebar in the East Indies. 

" REVEREND AND BELOVED, 

Your letters dated the 20th of January of the present year, 
were most welcome to us ; not only because the work un- 
dertaken by you of converting the heathen to the Christian 
" faith, doth by the grace of God prosper, but also because 
" that in this our kingdom such a laudable zeal forthepromo- 
" tion of the Gospel prevails. 

" We pray you may be endued with health and strength of 
" body, that you may long continue to fulfil your ministry with 
" good success ; of which, as we shall be rejoiced to hear, so 
" you will always find us ready to succour you in whatever 
" may tend to promote your work and to excite your zeal. 
We assure you of the continuance of our royal favour."^ 

" Given at our palace of Hampton 

"Court the 23d Aug-ust A. D r ^ y-, r^r^r^ J7 t> 
" 1717, in the 4th Year of our > UrUiUKUll. K. 



ipton- 
I our r 



" Reign. ) " Hattorf." 

12. The King continued to cherish with much solicitude 
the interests of the mission after the death of Ziegenbalgius ; 
and in ten years fi om the date of the foregoing letter, a second 
was addressed to the members of the mission, by his Majesty. 

" REVEREND AND BELOVED, 

" From your letters, dated Tranquebar, the 12th Septem- 

ber, 17'25, which some time since came to hand, we received 
" much pleasure ; since by them we are informed not only of 
" your zealous exertions in the prosecution of the work com- 
" mitted to you, but also of the happy success which has hith- 

erto attended it, and which hath been graciously given of 

God. 

• Niecampius, Hist. Miss, page 212. [By a letter from the Danish 
missionaries to the king of Great Britain, written at Tranquebar January 2, 
1717, it appears, that Ziegenbalgius was at London the preceding year, 
and gave his majesty " a verbal account of the wholQ, uwdertaking." 
Jmer. Edit.'] 



so 



*^ We return you thanks for these accounts, and it will 5c 
" acceptable to us, if you continue to communicate whatever 
" shall occur in the progress of your mission. 

" In the mean time we pray you may enjoy strength of body 
" and mind for the long continuance of your labours in this 
" good work, to the glory of God, and the promotion of 
" Christianity among the heathens ; that its perpetuity may 
" not fail in generations to coraeP^ 

** Given at our Palace at St. James's, 
" the 23d February, 172^, in the 
" 13th Year of our Rei^. 

13. The English nation will receive these letters (now sent: 
back in the name of the Hindoos) with that reverence and af- 
fectionate regard, which are due to the memory of the royal 
author, considering them as a memorial of the nation's past 
concern for the welfare of the natives, and as a pledge of our 
future carco. 

Providence hath been pleased to grant the prayer of the 
King, " that the work might not fail in generations to come." 
After the first missionary Ziegenbalgius had finished his 
course, he was succeeded by other learned and zealous men % 
and lastly, by the apostle of the East, the venerable SwartZj 
who, during the period of half a century,! has fulfilled a labo- 
rious ministry among the natives of different provinces, and 
illuminated many a dark region with the light of the Gospel. 

14. The pious exertions of the King for the diffusion of re- 
ligious blessings among the natives of India, seem to have 
been rewarded by heaven in temporal blessings to his own sub- 
jects in their intercourse with the East ; by leading them on- 
ward in a continued course of prosperity and glory, and by 
granting to them at length the entire dominion of the peninsur 
la of India. 

1 5. But these royal epistles are not the only evangelic docr 
uments of high authority in the hands of the Hindoos. They 
are in possession of letters written by the Archbishop of Can- 
terbury, of the same reign who supported the interests of 
the mission with unexampled liberality, affection, and zeaU 
These letters, which are many in number, are all written in 
the Latin language. The following is a translation of his 
grace's first letter j which appears to have been written by 
him as president of the " Society for promoting Christian- 
Knowledge." 

♦ Niecampius, page 284, f From 1749 to 1800,- 

% Archbishop Wake. 



" GEORGE R. 



ol 



^•^ To Bartholomew Ziegenhalgius and John Ernest GrundJerus^^ 
" Preachers of the Christian Faith^ on the coast of CoromaU" 
" del. 

" As often as I behold your letters, reverend brethren, ad* 
" dressed to the venerable Society instituted for the promotion 
" of the Gospel, whose chief honour and ornament ye are ; 
" and as often as I contemplate the light of the Gospel either 
*' now first risjng on the Indian nations, or after the intermis- 
" sion of some ages again revived, and as it were restored to 
" its inheritance ; I am constrained to magnify that singular 
goodness of God in visiting nations so remote ; and to ac- 
" count you, my brethren, highly honoured, whose ministry it 
hath pleased Him to employ, in this pious work, to the glory 
'•^ of Mis name and the salvation of so many millions of souls. 
' *' Let others indulge in a ministry, if not idle, certainly less 
laborious, among Christians at home. Let them enjoy in 
*' the bosom of the church, titles and honours, obtained with- 
out labour and widiout danger. Your praise it will be (a 
" praise of endless duration on earth, and followed by a just 
^ recompense in heaven) to have laboured in the vineyard 
which yourselves have planted ; to have declared the name 
of Christ, where it was not known before ; and through 
much peril and difficulty to have converted to the faith those, 
among whom ye afterwards fulfilled your mini|try. Your 
province therefore, brethren, your office, I place before all 
*' dignities in the church. Let others be pontiffs, patriarchs, 
*' or popes ; let them glitter in purple, in scarlet, or in gold ; 
" let them seek the admiration of the ^\^ondering multitude, 
" and receive obeisance on the bended knee. Ye have acquir- 
ed a better name than they, and a more sacred fame. And 
when that day shall arrive when the chief Shepherd shall 
" give to every man according to his xvork, a gi*eater reward 
" shall be adjudged to you. Admitted into the glorious soci- 
" ety of the Prophets, Evangelists, and Apostles, ye, with 
" them shall shine, like the sun among the lesser stars, in the 
^ kingdom of your Father, forever. 

" Since then so great honour is now given unto you by all 
competent judges on earth, and since so great a reward is 
" laid up for you in heaven ; go forth with alacrity to that 
" work, to the which the Holy Ghost hath called you. God 
hath already given to you an illustrious pledge of his favour, 
*' an increase not to be expected without the aid of his grace. 
" Ye have begun happily, proceed with spirit. He, who hath 
" carried you safely through the dangers of the seas to such a 
" remote country, and who hath given you favour in the eyes 
of those whose countenance ye most desired ; He who hath 



52 



so liberally and unexpectedly ministered unto your wants, 
" and who doth now daily add members to your church ; He 
*' will continue to prosjier your endeavours, and will subdue 
" unto himself, by your means, the whole continent of Oriental 
^' India. 

" O happy men ! who, standing before the tribunal of 

" Christ, shall exhibit so many nations converted to his faith 
by your preaching ; happy men ! to whom it shall be given 
to say before the assembly of the whole human race, 'Behold 
' us, O Lord, and the children whom thou hast given us 
happy men ! who, being justified by the Saviour, shall receive 
in that day the reward of your labours, and also shall hear 
that glorious encomium ; ' Well done, good and faithful 

^' ' servants, enter ye into the joy of your Lord.' 

" May Almighty God graciously favour you and j^our la- 

" hours in all things. May he send to your aid fellow-la- 
bourers, such and so many as ye wish. May he increase 

" the bounds of your churches. May he open the hearts of 
those to whom ye preach the Gospel of Christ ; that hearing 
you, they may receive life-giving faith. May he protect 
you and yours from all evils and dangers. And when ye 
arrive (may it be late) at the end of your course, may the 
same God, who hath called you to this work of the Gospel 

" and hath preserved you in it, grant to you the reward of 
your laboy.r, — -an incorruptible crown of glory. ^ 
" These are the fervent wishes and prayers ofj 
Venerable brethren, 
" Your most faithful fellow servant in Christ, 

From our Palace at Lamo a quLIELMUS CANT.'' 
" beth, January, A., D. 1719. 3 

Such was the primary archiepiscopal charge to the Protest- 
ant missionaries, who came to India for the conversion of the 
heathen. Where shall we look, in these days, for a more per- 
fect model of Christian eloquence ; animated by purer senti- 
ments of scriptural truth, by greater elevation of thought, or 
by a sublimer piety !f 

* Niecampius, page 215. 

I Before this letter reached India, Ziegenbalgius had departed this life at 
the early age of thirty six years. The expressions of the archbishop corres- 
ponded in many particulars with the circumstances of his death. Perceiving 
that his last hour was at hand, he called his Hindoo congregation and par- 
took of the holy Communion, ** amidst ardent prayers and many tears and 
afterwards addressing them in a solemn manner, took an affectionate leave 
of them. Being reminded by them of the faith of the Apostle of the Gen- 
tiles at the prospect of death, who " desired to be with Christ, as being far 
*f better," he said, " That also is my desire. Washed from my sins in Ms 

blood, and clothed with his righteousness, I shall enter into his heavenly 



S3 

16. B}'' the letters of the King, and his long continued care 
o{ the mission, and by the frequent admonitory epistles of the 
archbishop, an incalculable sum of happiness has been dispens- 
ed in India. The episcopal charges infused spirit into the 
mission abroad ; and the countenance of majesty cherished a 
;zeal in the Society at home, which has not abated to this day. 
From the com.mencement of the mission in 1705, to tlie pres- 
ent year, 1805, it is computed that eighty thousand natives of 
all casts in one district alone, forsaking their idols and their 
vices, have been added to the Christian church. 

17. In the above letter of the archbishop, there is found a 
prophecy, That Christ shall subdue unto himself, through 
" our means, the whole continent of oriented India," It is cer- 
tainly not unbecoming our national principles, nor inconsistent 
with the language or spirit of the religion we profess, to look 
for the ful£iment of that prophecy. 

18. Many circumstances concur to make it probable, that 
the light of Revelation is now dawning on the Asiatic world. 
How grateful must it be to the picus mind to contemplate, that 
while infidelity has been extending itself in the region of sci- 
ence and learning, the divine dispensation should have ordered 
that the knowledge of the true God should flow into heathen 
lands ! 

Under the auspices of the coUegeof Fort William, the Scrip- 
tures are in a course of translation into the languages of almost 
the " whole continent of Oriental India." Could the royal 
patron of the Tamid Bible, who prayed " that the work might 
not fail in generations to come," have foreseen those streams 
of revealed truth, which are now issuing from this fountain, 
with what delight would he have hailed the arrival of the pres- 
ent sera of Indian administration. In this view, the Oriental 
college has been compared by one of our Hindoo poets, to a 
flood of light shooting through a dark cloud on a benighted 
" land." Directed by it, the learned natives from every quar- 
ter of India, and from the parts beyond, from Persia and A- 
rabia, come to the source of knowledge : they mark our prin- 

kingdom. I pray that the thing's which I have spoken may be fruitful. 
Throughout tliis whole warfare, I have entirely endured by Christ ; and 
now I can say through him,'' — '* I have fought the good fight ; I have 
" finished my course ; I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up 
" for me a croxvii of righteousness which words having spoken, he desired 
that the Hindoo children about his bed, and the multitude filling the veran- 
dahs, and about the house, might sing the hymn, beginning*' Jesus my Sa- 
" viour Lord/' Which when finished, he yielded up his spirit, amidst the 
rejoicings and lamentations of a great multitude ; some rejoicing at bis tri- 
umphant death, and early entrance into glory. And others lamenting the 
early loss of their faithful apostle ; who had first brought the light of tiie 
Gospel to their dark region from the western world. Niecampius, p. 217, 
and Annales Miss, p . 20, 



54 



clpks, ponder the volume of inspiration, " and hear, evtw 
^* man in his own tongue, the wonderful works of God." 

19. The importance of this Institution as the fountain of 
civilization to Asia, is happily displayed in a Speech in the 
Shanscrit language, pronounced by the Shanscrit teacher,^ at 
our late public disputations. The translations of this discourse 
^being the first in that language) we are induced to give en- 
tire ; not only from our deference to the authority of the ven- 
erable speaker, who describes with much precision, the pres- 
ent state, true object, and certain consequences of this Institu- 
tion ; but also, because the facts and reasoning contained in it 
bear the most auspicious reference to the various subjects 
which have been discussed in this Memoir. 

As Moderator of the Disputation, he addresses the student,f 
who had pronounced a declamation in the Shanscrit language : 

" SIR, 

" It being a rule of our public disputations, that the Modera- 
tor should express before the assembly, his opinion of die pro- 
ficiency of the student in the langiiage in which he has spoken, 
it becomes my duty to declare my perfect approbation of the 
manner in which you have acquitted yourself, and to commu- 
nicate to you the satisfaction with which the learned Pundits, 
your auditors, have listened to your correct pronunciation of 
the Shanscrit tongue. 

" Four years have now elapsed since the commencement 
of this Institution. During that period the popular languages 
of India have been sedulously cultivated ; and are now fluently 
spoken. Last in order, because first in difficulty, appears the 
parent of all these dialects, the primitive Shanscrit ; as if to 
acknowledge her legitimate ofi'spring, to confirm their affinity 
and relation to each other, and thereby to complete our sys- 
tem of Oriental study. 

" Considered as the source of the colloquial tongues, the util- 
ity of the Shanscrit language is evident ; but as containing nu- 
merous treatises on the religion, jurisprudence, arts and sciences 
of the Hindoos, its importance is yet greater ; especially to those 
to whom is committed, by this government, the province of 
legislation for the natives ; in order that being conversant with 

* The venerable Mr. Carey ; for many years past the Protestant mis- 
jsionary in the North of India ; following- the steps of the late Mr. Swartz 
in the South ; in Oriental and classical learning* his superior, and not infe- 
rior in laborious study and Christian zeal. Mr. Carey is author of st 
Grammar of the Shanscrit Lang-uag-e, 900 pag-es 4to ; of a Grammar of 
the Beng-al Lang-uage ; of a Grammar in the Mahratta Language ; of a 
Translation of the Scriptures into the Bengal Language ; and of various 
^ther useful publications in Oriental literature. 

I Clotv/ortliy Gowan, Es(|. 



35 



the Hindoo writings, and capable of referring to the original 
authorities, they may propose, from time to time, the requisite 
modifications and improvements, in just accordance with ex- 
isting law and ancient institution. 

" Shanscrit learning, say the Brahmins, is like an extensive 
forest, abounding with a great variety of beautiful foliage,, 
splendid blossoms, and delicious fruits ; but surrounded by a 
strong and thorny fence,, which prevents those who are desir- 
ous of plucking its fruits or flowers, from entering in. 

The learned Jones, Wilkins, and others,, broke down this 
opposing fence in several places ; but by the College of Fort 
William, a highway has been made into the midst of the 
wood ; and you. Sir, have entered thereby* 

" The successful study of the Shanscrit tongue will distin- 
guish this fourth year of our Institution, and constitute it an 
aera in the progress of Eastern learning j and you. Sir, have 
the honour of being the first to deliver a speech in that 
ancient and difficult language. The success that has attended 
you in the acquirement of other branches of Oriental literature^ 
will encourage you to prosecute the study of this, as far as it 
may be useful in qualifying you for the faithful discharge of 
your duties in the public service, or may be subservient to 
your own reputation, in advancing the interests of useful 
learning." 

[Addressing his Excellency Marquis Wellesleij^ Governor Geri' 
eral^ Founder and Patron of the Institution,'\ 

" MY LORD, 

It is just, that the language which has been first cultivated 
under your auspices, should primarily be employed in grate- 
fully acknowledging the benefit, and in speaking your praise. 

" This ancient language, which refused to disclose itself to 
the former Governors of India, unlocks its treasures at your 
command, and enriches the world with the history, learning, 
and science of a distant age. 

" The rising importance of our Collegiate Institution has 
never been more clearly demonstrated than on the present oc- 
casion ; and thousands of the learned in distant nations will 
exult in this triumph of literature. 

" What a singular exhibition has been this day presented to 
us ! In presence of the supreme Governor of India, and of 
its most learned and illustrious characters, Asiatic and Euro- 
pean, an assembly is convened, in which no word of our na- 
tive tongue is spoken, but pubhc discourse is maintained on 
interesting subjects, in the languages of Asia. The colloquial 
Hindoostanee, the classic Persian, the commercial Bengalee, 



56 



the learned Arabic, and the primseval Shanscrit, are spoken 
fluently, after having been studied grammatically, by English 
youth. Did ever any university in Europe, or any literary 
institution in any other age or country, exhibit a scene so in- 
teresting as this ! And what are the circumstances of these 
youth ! They are not students who prosecute a dead language 
with uncertain purpose, impelled only by natural genius or love 
of fame. But having been appointed to the important offices of 
administering the government of the country in which these 
languages are spoken, they apply their acquisitions immediate- 
ly to useful purposes ; in distributing^ justice to the inhabi- 
tants ; in transacting the business of the state, revenual and 
commercial ; and in maintaining official intercourse with the 
people, in their own tongue, and not, as hitherto, by means of 
an interpreter. 

" The acquisitions of our students may be appreciated by 
their affiarding to the suppliant native immediate access to his 
principal ; and by their elucidating the spirit of the regulations 
of our government by oral communication, and by written ex- 
planations, varied according to the circumstances and capaci- 
ties of the people. 

" The acquisitions of our students are appreciated at this 
moment by those learned Asiatics, now present in this assem- 
bly, some of them strangers from distant provinces ; who won- 
der every man to hear in his own tongue, important subjects 
discussed, and new and noble principles asserted, by the youth 
of a foreign land. 

" The literary proceedings of this day amply repay all the 
solicitude, labour, and expense that have been bestowed on 
this Institution. If the expense had been a thousand times 
greater, it would not have equalled the immensity of the ad- 
vantage, moral and political, that will ensue. 

*' I, now an old man, have lived for a long series of 5^ears 
among the Hindoos ; I have been in the habit of preaching to 
multitudes daily, of discoursing with the Brahmins on every 
subject, and of superintending schools for the instruction of 
the Hindoo youth, 'i'heir language is nearly as familiar to 
me as my own. This close intercourse with the natives for so 
long a period, and in different parts of our empire, has afforded 
me opportunities of information not inferior to those which 
have hitherto been presented to any other person. I may say 
indeed that their manners, customs, habits, and sentiments, are 
as obvious to me, as if I was myself a native. And knowing 
them as I do, and hearing as I do, their daily observations on 
our government, character, and principles, I am warranted to 
say, (and I deem it my duty to embrace the public opportuni- 
ty now afforded me of saying it,) that the institution of this 



College was waftting to complete the happiness of the natives 
under our domini<)n ; for this institution will break down that 
barrier (our ignorance of their language) which has ever op- 
posed the influence of our laws and principles, and has des- 
poiled our administration of its energy and efi'ect. 

" Were, however, the Institution to cease from this mo- 
ment, its salutary effects would yet remain. Good has been 
done, which cannot be undone. Sources of useful knowledge, 
moral instruction, and political utility, have been opened to the 
natives of India, which can never be closed ; and their civil 
improvement, like the gradual civilization of our own country, 
will advance in piogression, for ages to come. 

One hundred original volumes in the Oriental languages 
and literature, will preserve forever in Asia the name of the 
founder of this Institution. Nor are the examples frequent of 
a renown, possessing such utility for its basis, or pervading 
such a vast portion of the habitable globe. My Lord, you 
have raised a monument of fame, which no length of time, or 
Reverse of fortune, is able to destroy ; not chiefly because it is 
inscribed with Mahratta and Mysore, with the trophies of war, 
and the emblems of victory ; but because there are inscribed 
on it the names of those learned youth, who have obtain d de- 
grees of honour for high proficiency in the Oriental tongues. 

" These youth will rise in regular succession to the govf ■ n- 
ment of this country. They will extend the domain of Br ;.ish 
civilization, security, and happiness, by enlarging the bounds 
of Oriental literature, and thereby diffusing the spirit of Chris- 
tian principles throughout the nations of Asia. These youth, 
who have lived so long among us, whose unwearied application 
to their studies we have all witnessed, vv^hose moral and exem- 
plary conduct has, in so solemn a manner, been publicly de- 
clared before this august assembly, on this day ; and who, at 
the moment of entering on the public service, enjoy the fame 
of possessing qualities (rarely combined) constituting a repu- 
tation of threefold strength for public men, genius, industry, 
and virtue J these illustrious scholars, my Lord, the pride of 
/ their country, and the pillars of this empire, will record your 
name in many a language, and secure your fame forever. 
Your fame is already recorded in their hearts. The whole 
body of youth of this service hail you as their father and tlieir 
friend. Your honour will ever be safe in their hands. No 
revolution of opinion, or change of circumstances, can rob 
you of the solid glory derived from the humane, just, liberal, 
and magnanimous principles, wiiich have been embodied by 
your administration, 

" To whatever situation the course of future events may 
call you, the youth of this service will ever remain the pledges 
8 



5S 



of the wisdom and purity of your government. \ our evening 
of life will be constantly cheered with new testimonies of their 
reverence and affection ; v/ith new proofs of the advantages of 
the education you have aiforded them j and with a demonstra- 
tion of the numerous benefits, moral, religious, and political, 
resulting from this Institution ; — -benefits which will consoli- 
date the happiness of millions in Asia^ with the glory and wel- 
fare of our country."'^ 

* See Primitae Orientales, Vol. III. page 111. [The preceding- chaptei* 
has g'iven so very concise an account of the Protestant Mission in India, 
that the reader may be gratified with a few ad.ditional sketches of it. The 
king of Denmark early settled on the missionaries 2000 crowns a year, pay- 
able from the post office, to defray the necessary charges of the mission ; 
and this sum. was often doubled by extraordinary presents. Germany alsQ 
sent large sums toward tlie support of the mission ; but the greatest con- 
tributions came from England. From the year 1709, the Society for Pro- 
moting Christian Knowledge very liberally assisted it ; and in 1713, the 
sum sent from England amounted to 194 sterling. From that time Eng- 
land continued to assist the mission of Tranquebar, and alone sustained the 
missions of Madras and St. David, In 1715 a college was erected at Co- 
penhagen by the king of Denmark, for facilitating and enlarging the work 
of the Mission in the East Indies, The very worthy superintendant, Ziegen- 
balgius, died February 25, 1719 ; and Mr. Grundler, his faithful assistant, 
sm^vived him but a year. The mission of Tranquebar was still supported ; 
and in 1742 it was under the direction of 8 missionaries, 2 national priests, 
3 catechists of the first order, beside those of an inferior rank, with a pro- 
portional number of assistants. It was but seven years after, that the ven- 
erable Swartz commenced his mission, which continued mitil the close of 
the century. Amer. Edit.'] 



APPENDIX. 

A. 

•JiECORD of the superstitious practices of the Hindoos^ now suh» 
sistingi which injiict immediate death, or tend to death ; deduct' 
ed from the evidence of the Pundits and learned Brahmins in the 
College of Fort William. 

I. 

7'he offering of children to Gunga* 

TiiE natives of Hindoostan, particularly the inhabitants o[ 
Orissa, and of the eastern parts of Bengal, sometimes make offer- 
ings of their children to the goddess Gmiga. 

When a woman, who has been long married, has no child, she 
and her husband make a vow to the goddess Gunga, " That it she 
" will bestow on them the blessing of children, they will devote 
" to her ihQiv first born}* If, after this vow, they have a child or 
children, the first born is preserved, till they have a convenient 
©pportuuity of returning to the river at the period of assembling 
at the holy places. They then take the child with them ; and at 
the time of bathing, it is encouraged to walk into deep water, till 
it is carried away by the stream. If it be unwilling to go forward, 
it is pushed off by its parents. Sometimes a stranger attends, and 
catches the perishing; infant, and brings it up as his own ; but if 
no such person happen to be near, it is infallibly drowned, being 
deserted by the parents the moment it floats in the river. 

This species of human sacrifice is publicly committed at Gun- 
ga Saugor, in the last day of Pons ; and on the day of full moon in 
Kart5c. At Bydyabatee, Trivenee, Nuddeea, Agradeep, and other 
places accounted holy, it is committed on the 13th day of the 
dark fortnight of the moon Chytra, and on the 10th of the bright 
fortnight in Jystha. 

All the Pundits declare that this practice is not commanded in 
any Shaster.f 

II. 

Kamya Moron, or -voluntary death, 

1. When a person is in distress, or has incurred the contempt 
»f his society ; and often when there is no other cause than his 
belief that it is meritorious to die in the river Gunga, he forms 
the resolution of parting with life in the sacred stream. 

* The river Ganges. 

t This practice is now abolished bv regulation of government. See 
Appendix C, ; 



60 



2. Such person^} at the times mentioned in the prececliqg arti» 
cle, go to the holy places, where many thousands of people are 
assembled for the purpose of sacred ablution. Some of them ab*r 
stain from food, that life may depart from them in the holy place i 
but the greater immber drown themselves in the presence of the 
surrounding multitude. Their children and other relations gene- 
rally attend them. It is not uncommon for a father to be pushed 
again into the river by his sons, if he attempt to swim back to land. 

3 . At Saugor it is accounted a propitious sign if the person be 
soon seized by a shark or a crocodile ; but his future happiness is 
considered doubtful if he stay long in the water without being de- 
stroyed.* 

4. The only passage in the Shasters which has been submitted 
as countenancing this suicide is the follo>ving : " If a person be 
" afflicted with an incurable disease, so painful that it cannot be 
" borne, he is permitted to throw himself from a precipice, or to 
" drown himself in the river." 

5. During the Pooja of the Rutt Jatlra, some devote themselves 
to death by falling under the wheels of a heavy car or wooden tow- 
er^ containing their gods. At Jaggernaut they sometimes lie down 
in the track of this machine a few hours before its arrival, and tak-r 
ang a soporiferous draught, hope to meet death asleep. 

III. 

Exfiosi7ig of children » 

This is a custom not commanded in any of the Shasters, and is 
wholly confined to the lower classes. 

If a child refuse the mother's milk, whether from sickness or 
from any other cause, it is supposed to be under the influence of 
an evil spirit. In this case the babe is put into a basket and hung 
up in a tree for three days. It generally happens that before the 
expiration of that time the infant is dead ; being destroyed by ants, 
or by birds of prey. If it be alive at the end of the three days, it 
is taken home? and means are used to preserve its life. 

IV. 

Destroying female infants. 

This practice is common among a race of Hindoos called Raj- 
poots. Without alleging any other reason than the difficulty of 
providing for daughters in marriage, the mothers starve their fe- 
male infants to death. In some places not one half of f>fie females 
are permitted to live. t 

* The sharks and alligators are numerous at this place, particularly at 
the time of the annual festival ; owing, it is supposed, to the human prey de- 
voted to them from time immemorial, 

f Lord Teignmouth relates, that this infanticide is practised on the fron- 
tiers of Juanpore, a district of the province of Benares ; and at another place 
within the same province. Asiatic Res. Vol IV. page 338. 

3ee also Memoirs of Georp Thomas, by Captain Franklin, page 10,Q. 



61 



V. ■ 

Immersion of sick persons in the river. 

When a sick person (particularly if he be aged) is supposed 
jjot to be likely to recover, he is conveyed to the liver, in which the 
lower half of his body is immersed. Water is copiously poured 
into his mouth j and he seldom survives the operation many hours, 

VI. 

The sahamoron^ or the burnijig of ivido'w^ with their deceased 
husbands. 

1. This practice is common in all parts of Hindoostan, but it is 
more frequent on the banks of the Gcinges. 

It is usual for the woman to burn with her husband's corpse. 
But there is a cast called Jogees, who bury their dead. The wo- 
men of this cast bury themselves aiive with their husbands. 

2. From the number of buriiiiii^s and buryings in a given time, 
within the compass of a few districts, it was calculated by the late 
learned Mr. William Chambers, that the widows who perish by 
self-devoternent in the nothern provinces of Hindoostan alone, are 
not less than ten thousand annually. This calculation is counte- 
nanced by the number of burnings within thirty miles round Cal- 
cutta during the period of the last six months, which, by account 
taken, is one hundred and sixteen.* 

3. The usual mode of performing the rite of burning is the fol- 
lowing : 

When the husband is dead, the widow, if she intend to burn, 
immediately declares her intention ; and soon after goes to the riv- 
er side, where the corpse of her husband is laid. The Brahmins 
and common people assemble. The pile being erected, the dead 
body is placed upon it. After a few ceremonies (diftering in dif- 
ferent districts) the widow lays herself down by the side of the 
corpse. Combustible materials are thrown upon the pile, which 
is pressed down by bamboo levers. The heir at law then kindles 
the fire. The surrounding multitude set up a shout, which is ne- 
cessary to prevent her cry from being heard, if she should make 
any ; and the life of the victim is soon ended. 

4. The following circumstances contribute to the, frequency of 
this act : 

When a husband dies, the wife has the choice of burning with 
him, or of forsaking the comforts of life. She must put on no or- 
naments, must be clothed in sordid apparel, and must eat but one 
scanty meal in the day. 

If she attempt to escape froni the fire, any person of the very 
lowest casts may seize and carry her home as his own property. 
But in this case her relations generally bring her forcibly back t« 
the fire, to prevent the disgrace of her being carried away. 
* See Appendix D. 



62 



S. The lartvs of the Hin.doos concerning the female sacrifice^ 

are collected in a book called Soodha Sungraha. 

The passages in that book which relate to the principle or ^ct 

of burning, are here subjoined, with the iiaiTfes of the oiiginai 

Shasters from which they were collected. 

Angeera. " The virtuous wife who burns herself with her hus= 
band is like to Aroondhutee. If she be v/ithin a day's journey 

"of the place where he dies, the burningcf the corpse shall be de- 

" ferred a day, to wait for her arrivaL" 

Brahnna Pooran. " If the husband die in a distant country, the 
wife may take any of his effects ; for instance a sandal, and bind- 

" ing it on her thigh, burn with it on a separate fire." 

Reek Ved. If a woman thus burn with her husband it is not 
suicide, and the relations shall be unclean three days on account 

" of her death ; after which the Shraddhee must be performed." 
Vishnoo Pooran. " If a person be poteet, (fallen or sinful,) ali 

" his sins will be blotted out by his wife*s dying with him in the 
lire, after a proper atoacmeot has been made." 
" A pregnant woman is forbidden to burn, and also the woman 
who is in her times ; or who has a young child, unless some 
proper person undertake tl^ education of the child. 
" If a v*'oman ascend the pile and should afterwards decline tQ 
burn through love of life or earthly things, she must perform 

" the penance Prazapotyo,* and will then be free from her sin." 
Goutam. " A Brahmaree can only die with her husband, and 
not in a separate fire. The eldest son or near relation must set 

" fire to the pile," 

On comparing these passages with the present practice of burn- 
ing v;omen in Hindoostan, little similarity will be found either in 

principle, or in ceremonial. In many particulars of the existing 

custom, the Hindoos directly violate the laws of their religion. 

NOTE BY THE PUNDITS. 

" There may be some circumstantial differences of a local na= 
ture in the above mentioned customs ; but the general practice 
^' correbponda v/ith what is here written." 

B. 

JVOT£S on the practicability of abolishing those practices of the 
Hindoos^ivhich irtfict imviediate deaths or tend to produce death s 
collated from the hformation and suggestions of the Pundits and 
learried Brahmins in the College of Fort William, 

1. It is an attribute of the British government in India that it 
tolerates ali religious opinions, and forms of worship, and protects 
those who profess them, as long as they conduct themselves in an 
orderly and peaceable manner, 

2. If rnurder, robbery, or adultery be committed under th« 

* A rig-id fast for some days. 



I 



63 

iiame of relitj^ion, the persons guilty of such actions m-ay be pros-"^ 
ccutcd for civil crimes. No sanction of reliLvion can save the of- 
fender from the pnnishment due for his violation o! the laws, and 
for his offence against humanity and social happinchs. 

" The principle asserted in the foregoing paragraphs is acknow* 
" ledged by the Pundits.'* 

3 Death is inflicted, and sanguinary rites are practised, br the 
Hindoos under the name of an andent custom, or of a religious 
duty. ^ 

I. Children are sacrificed by their parents to Gunga. 

II. They are hung up on trees in baskets and devoured by birds 
of prey. 

III. Female infants among the Rajpoot Hindoos, are destroyed 
by starving. 

IV. Men and women drown themselves in the Ganges^ at the 
places reputed holy. 

V. They devote themselves to death by falling under the wheels 
#f the machine which carries their gods.* 

VI. Widows are burned alive with their deceased husbands, 

VII. Widows are buried alive with their deceased husbands. 
Vni. Persons supposed to be dying, are immersed in the river. 

IX. The inhuman practice of swinging with hooks passed 
through ^e integuments of the back, called Peet Phooron. 

X. The practice of dancing with threads, canes, or bamboos 
passed through the sides, called the Parswoban. 

XL The passing spits or other instruments of iron through the 
tongue or forehead, called Zuhba Phooron. 

XII. The falling from a height on sharp instruments, called 
Pat Bhanga. 

XHI. The practice of swinging over a fire, called Ihool Sun- 
yoss. 

XIV. The practice of climbing naked a tree armed with horrid 
thorns,t called Kanta Bhanga. 

And all the other ceremonies which are performed on the last 
fiive days of the month Chytra, under the denomination of the 
Chorruk Pooja, are often the occasion of death ; and always tend 
to brutalize the minds both of actors and spectators. 

To these if we add self-torture, which is practised in the most 
disgusting and unnatural forms, some idea may be formed of the 
pre^sent effects of the Hindoo superstition. 

4 None of these practices are sanctioned in the books, which 
the Hindoos account divine, except the three following ; the Kara - 
ya Moron, or voluntary devotement ; Sahamoron, or burning of 
widows ; and the immersion of half the body of a dying person in 
the river. And these are not commanded. These actions arc 
generally performed in consequence of vows, or in compliance 
with custom. But all vows are optional, and the committing mur- 
der in consequence of a vow, does not lessen the guilt of it. On 

* This is practised chiefly at Jag-gernaut, at the Pooja cf the Rutt Jattra., 
t Tfee Khmjoor tree. 



64 

ihe coDtrary, a vow to commit such an action, is a crime which de- 
serves punishment. " This principle is conceded by the Pundits/' 

5. Most persons of erudition and influence among the Hindoos 
reprobate the observance of cruel or painful rites not appointed by 
the Shasters. 

When these persons have been asked? why they did not exert 
their influence to prevent such irregularities, they have always 
answered : " That they have no power ; that the Hindoo rajahs 
" formerly did interfere and punish those who were guilty of 
" breaking the laws of the Shasters." They allege particularly, 
that in the Sahamoron, or burning of widows, " no influence of 

the Brahmins or of relations should be permitted, and that such 
" influence when suspected is a subject for civil inquiry ; thai; the 
" woman should come of her own accord, and lay herself on the 
" pile after it is kindled ; that no bamboos or ropes should bind 
" her down ; and that if after ascending the pile her resolution 
" should fail her, she should be subject to no inconvenience or dis- 
" grace, more than the appointed atonement,* or that, for which 
it may be commuted ; and that every deviation from the strict 
" letter of the law, is to be accounted murder." 

The uninformed part of the community assent to the propriety 
of the common practice ; and there can be little doubt that family 
pride in many cases, lights the funeral pile. But the opinion of 
the learned and more respectable part of their society must have 
the greatest weight ; and would be suflicient to vindicate any salu* 
tary measure which government might adopt. To reduce this 
rite to the strict bounds allowed it in the Shasters, v/ould do much 
towards its total abolition. 

6. The immersion of half the body of a person supposed to be 
dying, in the water of the Ganges, must often, in acute diseases, 
occasion premature death. 

What has been observed respecting the Sahamoren, will equal* 
ly apply to this practice. ^ It is optional. Though very common 
on the banks of the Ganges, it is reprobated in many places at a 
distance from it. The abolition of it would not be more difficult 
than that of the Sahamoron. 

c. 

J. D. 1802. Regulation VI. 

^' A. REGULATION for preventing the sacrifice of children at 
Saugor and other places. Passed by the Governor General in 
council, on the 20th August, 1802. 

" It has been represented to the Governor General in council, 
that a criminal and inhuman practice of sacrificing children, by- 
exposing them to be drowned, or devoured by sharks, prevails at 
the island of Saugor, and at Bansbaryah, Chaugdah, and other 
places on the Ganges. At Saugor especially, such sacrifices have 

* A rigid fast ; but which may be commuted for a gift to a Brahmin of 

a cow and a calf ; or of five kouns of cowries. 



63 



been made at fixed periods, namely, the day o full moon in No* 
vember and in January ; at which time also grown persons have 
devoted themselves to a similar death. Children, thrown into the 
sea at Saugor, have not been generally rescued, as is stated to be 
the custom at other places ; but the sacrifice has, on the contrary, 
been completely effected, with circumstances of peculirir atrocity 
in some instances. This practice, which is represented to arise 
from superstitious vows, is not sanctioned by the Hindoo law, nor 
countenanced by the religious orders, or by the people at large ; 
nor was it at any time authorized by the Hindoo or Mahoniedan 
governments of India. The persons concerned in the perpetration 
of such crimes are therefore clearly liable to punishment ; and the 
plea of custom would be inadmissible in excuse of the offence. 
But for the more effectual prevention of so inhuman a practice, 
the Governor General in council has enacted the following regu- 
lation, to be in force from the promulgation of it, in the provinces 
of Bengal, Behar, Orissa, and Benares." 

Then follows the clause declaring the practice to be murder^ 
punishable with death. 

D. 

REPORT of the number of ivomen who have burned themselves on 
the funeral pile of their husbands within thirty miles round Calcut' 
tUy from the beginning of Lysakh (1 5th April) tot he end of As- 
win (\5th October)^ 1804. 

From Gurria to Barrypore, Byshnub Ghat - - 2 
Bhurut Bazar ... 1 Etal Ghat . - - 2 

Rajepore - 2 Russapagli - - - 1 

Muluncha 2 Koot Ghat ... 2 

Barrypore - . - . ^ 1 Gurria - - - 1 

Maeenugur 1 B^^ssdhuni ... 2 

Lasun - - - - - - i Dadpore and near it - 3 

Kesubpore - - - - - 2 From Barrypore to Buhipore, 

Mahamaya .... 3 joynagm- ... 2 

PuschimBahme - - - 1 Moosilpore . - - 1 
Bural 3 Bishnoopoor - - 3 

Dhopa Gach, hi - - - - 1 B^lia \ 

From Tolley's Milla mouth to Gunga Dwar - - 1 
Gurria. Gochurun Ghat - - 3 

Mouth of Tolley's nulla - 6 Telia . - . . 1 
Kooli Bazar - - i Froin Seebpore to Baleea, 
Kidderpore bridge - 1 Khooter Saer - - i 
Jeerat bridge - - 2 Sulkea - - - 3 
Near the hospital - ^ 1 Ghoosri Chokey Ghat - 2 
Watson's Ghat - - I Balee - - - - 3 

Bhobaneepore - - 2 Seebpore - - - 1 
Kalee Ghat - . - 6 

Tolley Gunge - - 2 From Balee to Bydyabatee. 
Naktulla - - - i Serampore - * - 1 
9 



Bydyabatee - , i jrrofn Burafmagur to Chanok,. 

Dhon-nagur . , i Oukhineshwar - - 2 

From Bydyabatee to Bassbareea, Agurpara - - _ 4 

Chundun-nagur - - 3 Areeadoha - - - 3 

Chinchura . - - 2 ^haniik - . - 1 

Saha Gunge - . 2 Sookchur - - - 1 

Bassbareea - - - 2 K^hurdoha and near it - 2 

Bhudreshwur - - 1 From Chanok to Kachrapar a. 

From Calcutta to Burahnugur. Eeshapore - - - 2 

Soorer Bazar - - 2 Koomorhatta * - 2 

Burahnugur - - » 2 Kachrapara - - - S 

Kashipore - - - i Bhatpara - - - 1 

Chitpore - - - 1 Total (in six months) 11§ 

The above Report was made by persons of the Hindoo cast, de- 
puted for that purpose. They were ten in number, and were sta- 
tioned at different places during the whole period of the six 
months. They gave in their account monthly, specifying the 
name and place ; so that every individual instance was subject t© 
investigation immediately after its occurrence. 

2. By an account taken in 1803, the number of women sacrific- 
ed during that year within thirty miles round Calcutta was tw© 
hundred and seventy-five. 

3. In the foregoing Report of six months in 1 804, it will be per- 
ceived that no account was taken of burnings in a district to the 
west of Calcutta, nor further than twenty miles in some other di- 
rections ; so that the whole number of burnings within thirty miles 
round Calcutta, must have been considerably greater than is here 
stated. 

4. The average number (according to the above Report) of wo- 
men burning within thirty miles round Calcutta, is nearly twenty 
per month. 

5. One of the above was a girl of eleven years of age. Instan- 
ces sometimes occur of children often years old burning with their 
husbands.* 

6. In November of last year two women, widows of one Brah- 
min, burnt themselves with his body at Barnagore, within two 
miles of Calcutta. 

7. About the same time a woman burnt herself at Kalee Ghat, 
with the body of a man, who was not her husband. The man's 
name wasToteram Doss. The woman was a Joginee of Seebpore. 

8. In the province of Orissa,now subject to the British govern- 
ment, it is a custom, that when the wife of a man of rank burns, all 
his concubines must burn with her. In the event of their refusal, 
they are dragged forcibly to the place and pushed with bamboos 
into the Jiambig fiit. It is usual there to dig a pit, instead of rais- 
ing a pile. The truth of this fact (noticed by some writers) is at- 
tested by Pundits now in the College of Fort William, natives of 
that province. 

• They often marry at the age of nine. 



6,7 



E. 

Religious Mendicants. 

The Hindoo Shasters commend a man if he retire from the 
iVorld, and, devoting himself to solitude, or to pilgrimage, live ob 
the spontaneous productions of the earth, or by mendicity. This 
principle, operating on an ignorant and superstitious people, has in 
the revolution of ages produced the consequence which might be 
expected. The whole of Hindoostan swarms with lay-beggars. 
In some districts there are armies of beggars. They consist, in 
general, of thieves and insolveni debtors ; and are excessively ig- 
norant, and notoriously debauched. 

This begging system is felt as a public evil by the industrious 
part of the community, who, from fear of the despotic power and 
awful curseof this fraternity, dare not withhold their contributions. 

These beggars, often coming into large towns naked, outrage 
decency, and seem to set Christian police at defiance. 

The Pundits consider these mendicants as the public and licens- 
ed corrupters of the morals of the people ; and they affirm that 
the suppression of the order would greatly contribute to the civU 
improvement of the natives of Hindoostan. 

F. 

Different Hindoo Sects in Bengal. 

TThe discrepancy of religious belief in the province of Bengal 
alone (which province has been accounted the stronghold of the 
Brahminical superstition,) will illustrate the general state of the 
other provinces of Hindoostan. 

In Bengal there are five classes of natives who are adverse to 
the Brahminical system ; and who may be termed Dissenters 
from the Hindoo practices and religion. 

1. The followers of Chytunya of Nuddeea. This philosopher, 
taught that there is no distinction of cast ; a tenet which alone un- 
dermines the whole system of Hinduism. 

2. The followers of Ram Doolal, who is now living at Ghose- 
para, near Sookhsagur. These are computed to be twenty thou- 
sand in number, and are composed of every denomination of Hin- 
doos and Mussulmans. They profess a kind of Deism. Of this 
sect some hav^ already embraced the Christian faith. 

3. A third great body were lately followers of Shiveram Doss, 
at Jugutanundu Katee. This man, who is yet alive, was believed 
to be a partial incarnation of the Deity. They have addressed 
several letters to the Protestant missionaries, and are ready to ab- 
jure idol-worship and other errors* 

4. Another class of Hindoo sceptics is to be found at Lokep- 
hool in Jessore. Their representative at this time is Neelo, sur- 
named the Sophist. Some of these have repeatedly visited the 
missionaries, and invited them to go amongst them. They have 
received the Bible and other religious books in the Bengalee lan- 
guage, which they now teach in a school established for the in- 
struction of childreUo 



68 



5. The fifth class, which is very numerous, profess respect for 
the opinions of a leader named Amoonee Sa, residing in Muhum- 
mud Shawi. They have lately sent two deputations to the Chris- 
tian missoinaries, requesting a conference with them on the doc- 
trines of the Gospel. 

Now, " what forbids that these men should be baptized ?" We 
do not offer them a religion, but the people themselves, awake to 
their own concerns, come to us and ask for it. What policy, what 
philosophy is that, which forbids our granting their request ? It 
must certainly have been an ignorance of facts which has so long 
kept alive amongst us the sentiment, that religion is not to be meU' 
Honed to the natives. 

That which prevents the sects above mentioned from renounc- 
ing (even without our aid) all connection with Hindoos or Mus» 
sulmans, is the want of precedent in the North of India of a com- 
munity of native Christians, enjoying political consequence, as in 
the South, The ignorance of the people is so great, that they 
doubt whether their civil liberties are equally secure to them un- 
der the denomination of Christian, as under that of Hindoo or 
Mussulman ; and they do not understand that we have yet recog- 
nised in our code of native law, any other sect than that of Hindoo 
and Mussulman.* 



X HE constant reference of some authors to what is termed 
the ancient civilization of the Hindoos, gives currency to an opin- 
ion in Europe, that the natives of India are yet in an improved 
state of society. 

It is probable that the Hindoos were once a civilized people, in 
the sense in which the ancient Chaldeans and ancient Egyptians 
are said to have been civilized. The result of the most accurate 
researches on this subject, appears to be the following. 

* [[The opinion of Rev. George Lewis, chaplain at Fort St. George in 
1712, was decidedly in favour of the Protestant Mission. His local situa= 
tion, unconnected as he was with any mission, entitles his judgment to res- 
pect. The Missionaries at Tranquebar ought and must be encouraged. 

It is the first attempt the Protestants ever have made in that kind 

" As to converting the Natives in the dominions of the Rajahs, and the 

great Mogul, I believe it may be done in either without notice taken, pro- 
*' vided we do not sound a trumpet before us. In the Mogul's dominions, 

eight parts in ten, in most of the provinces, are Gentoos, and he never 

troubles his head what opinion they embrace. But to tamper with his 
** Mussulmen is not safe. — But to give you ray sentiments in the matter ; I 
** think we ought to begin at home : for there are thousands of people, I 
" may say some hundreds of thousands, w^ho live in the settlements, and 
•* under the jurisdiction of the Honourable Company, at Bombay, Fort St. 
** David, Fort St. George, Calecuta in Bengali, on the West Coast, &c. who 
^' may be converted to Christianity without interfering with any country 
«« government whatsoever." What additional sti-ength has this argument 
received by the vast accession of territory and population to the British do- 
minions in the East, during the last century ! Nearly twenty years ago. Sir 
William Jones gave it as his judgment, founded on an actual enumeration 
in one collectorship, ** that in all India there cannot be fewer than thikt.^ 

MILLIONS Off 3LACK BRITISH SUBJECTS." Am^T, 





69 



From the plains of Shinar, at the time of the dispersion, some 

tribes migrated toward the East to India, and some toward the 
West to Egypt, while others remained in Chaldea. At an early- 
period, we read of the " wisdom and learning of the Egyptians," 
and of the Chaldeans ; and it is probable that the " wisdom and 
" learning" of the Hindoos were the same in degree, at the same 
pe-iod of time. In the mean while patriarchal tradition (which 
had accompanied the different trii?es at the beginning) pervaded 
the mythology of all. 

It may be presumed further, that the systems of the Hindoos 
would remain longer unaltered with them, by reason of their re- 
mote and insulated situation ; from which circumstance also, theii- 
writings would be more easily preser\^d. 

We collect from undoubted historical evidence, that during a 
period of twelve hundred years, a fiee intercourse subsisted be- 
tweeri India, Egypt, Greece, and Chaldea. Of course the " wis- 
" dom" of each of these nations respectively must have been com- 
mon to all, and their systems of theology and astronomy would 
have been allied to each other ; as we know in fact they were. 
How it happened, by the mere operation ol natural cause;:, that 
Greece and Rome should have left Egypt and incia so far behind, 
is yet to be accounted for ; though the purpose of it in the designs 
of the divine Providence, is very evident. 

But now the wisdom of the East hath passed away with the wis- 
dom of Egypt ; and we might with equal justice attribute civiliza- 
tion to the present race of Egyptians, as to the present race of the 
Hindoos. 

Historians have been at great pains to collect vestiges of the an- 
cient civilization of the Hindoos ; and with some success ; for 
these vestiges are as manifest as those of the early civilization of 
Egypt or of Chaldea. Doctor Robertson says, that he prosecuted 
his laborious investigation with the view^and hope, " that, if his ac- 
*• count of the early civilization of India should be received as just 
" and well established, it might have some influence upon the be- 
" haviour of Europeans towards that people."* This was a hu- 
mane motive of our celebrated historian. Bat as it is difficult for 
us to respect men merely for the civilization of their forefathers, 
a more useful deduction appears to be this ; that since the Hindoos 
are proved on good evidence, to have been a civilized people in 
former days, we should endeavour to make them a civilized peo- 
ple again. Doctor Robertson seems to think that the Hindoos are 
even now " far advanced beyond the inhabitants of the two other 
" quarters of the globe in improvement." Such a sentiment in- 
deed is apt to force itself on the mind, from a mere investigation 
of books. But to a spectator in India, the improvement alluded 
to will appear to be very partial ; and the quality of it is little un- 
derstood in Europe. It is true that the natives excel in the man- 
ual arts of their cast ; and that some of them, particularly those 
who are brought up amongst Europeans, acquire a few ideas of 
civility and general knowledge. But the bulk of the common peo~ 

* Dissertation en India, na^e 335., 



re 

pic, froi3\ Cape Coraorin to Thibet, are not an imfirovtd peopie.* 
Go into a village, within five miles of Calcutta, and you will find an 
ignorance of letters and of the world, an intellectual debility, a 
wretchedness of living, and a barbarism of appearance, which, by 
every account, (making allowance for our regular government and 
plentiful country) are not surpassed among the natives in the in- 
terior of Africa or back settlements of America.* On the princi- 
ple of some late philosophers, that those men are most civilized, 
who approach nearest to the simplicity of nature, it might be ex- 
pected perhaps that the Hindoos are a civilized people. But even 
this principle fails them. For an artificial and cruel superstition 
debases their minds, and holds them in a state of degradation, 
which to an European is scarcely credible. 

* See Park and Mackenzie. [Justice requh'e&, that the aborig-inal peo- 
ple on the Malabar coast be distin^-uished f/om most of those inhabiting" 
" from Cape Comorin to Thibet." The country, denominated Proper Mal- 
abar, comprehends a tract of land, beginning at Mount Dilly, in the latitude 
of 12 north, and extending to Cape Comorin, and is bounded inland by that 
vast chain of mountains which separates the Malabarian coast from the Co- 
romandel. The inhabitants of this region differ extremely, in their manners 
and customs, from those of the more nothern p-arts, though separated from 
Aem but by an imaginary line. " Here the whole government and people 
V, ear a new face and form " This country is divided into a multitude of 
petty king'doms, through which are diffused nearly the same modes of re- 
ligion, manners, and pf-licy. An author, wlio visited the East Indies about 
half a ccntiuy ago, hav ing mentioned some of the peculiar customs of thi^ 
people, observes : " From such strange customs one would naturally enough 
conclude, that nothing but such a barbarism reigns in the Malabar as 
among the savages of America: yet this is far from being the case* 
^' The Malabars have in general even a certain pohtenessj and especially a 
' * shrcA dness of discennnent of their interests, which thase who deal or 
treat with them are stire to experience. Like most of the Orientalists, 
they arc grave, know perfectly well how to keep dignity, and are great 
observers of silence, especially in their public functions. They despise 
* and distrust all verboseness in the management af state affairs. Their 
'^^ iiarangues are succinct and pathetic. A king of Travancore, for exam- 
pie, on two ambassadors being sent to him by the Nai'ck of Madura, a 
neighbouring prince, and one of them having made a prolix speech, and 
'"^ tiie other preparing- to take it up and proceed in the same manner, where 
'^^ the other liad left off, austerely admonished him in these few words. Do 

7mt be long, life is shoJt." Grose's Voyage to tlie East Indies,, i 245 - 

The art of writing on palm leaves, were there no other evid/?rice, would 
slone prove the ingenuity and former cultivation of the Malabarians. When 
the Protestant missionaries first visited Malabar, this art was familiar to the 
natives. The orders for the Synod of Diamper were issued on palm leaves, 
written after the manner of the country, and styled Olios. ** L* Archidia- 
** ere envoya de tous cotes des Qllas^ on Lettres ecrites d la maniere du 
" Pays avec des stilets de fer sur des feuilies de Palmier." JLa Croze. Ma- 
ny of the people take down the discourses of the missionaries on ollas, that 
they may read them afterward to their families at home. As soon as the 
minister has pronounced the tex-t, the sound of the iron style on the palm 
leaf is heard throughout tlie congregation. This art, it appears, is not con- 
fined to the Malabarian coast, but is practised at Tanjour. " The natives 
of Tanjour and Travancore can write down what is spoken deliberately, 
without losing one word. They seldom look at their ollas while writing, 
and can write in the dark with fluency." See Appendix to Star in the 
Ea5t. a late missionary says, that they "write in Tamul short hand;** 
e4id that '*^t!ie sermon of the morniug is regidarly retid in the evening bj 



n 



TM^re is one argument against the possibility of tHeir being m 
a civilized state, wiiich to the accurate investigators of the humari 
mind in i^urope, will appear conclusive. The cast of the multi- 
tude, that is, the Sooders, are held in abhorrence and contempt by 
the Brahmins. It is a crime to instruct them. It is a crime for 
that unhappy race even to hear the words of instruction. The 
Sooder is considered by the Brahmins as an inferior species of be- 
ing, even in a physical sense ; intellectual incapacity is therefore 
expected and patiently endured, and the wretched Sooder is sup- 
posed, at the next transmigration of souls, to animate the body of 
a monkey or a jackall. 

The philosopher of Geneva himself would not have contended 
for the civilization of the Sooders. 

H. 

JSxcessive Polygamy of the Koolin Brahmins, 

T HE Brahmins in Bengal accuse individuals of their own or- 
der of a very singular violation of social propriety ; and the disclo- 
sure of the fact will, probably, place the character of the venerable 
Brahmin in a new light. 

The Koolins, who are accounted the purest and the most sacred 
cast of the Brahmins, claim it as a privilege of their order, to mar- 
ry an hundred wives. And they sometimes accomplish that num- 
ber ; it being accounted an honour by other Brahmins to unite 
their daughters to a Koolin Brahmin. The wives live commonly 
in their father's houses ; and the Koolin Brahmin visits them all 
round, generally once a year ; on which occasion, he receives a 
present from the father. The progeny is so numerous in some 
instances, that a statement of the number (recorded in the regis- 
ters of the cast) would scarcely obtain credit. 

As in the case of human sacrifices at Saugor, and of the num- 
ber of women who are annually burned near Calcutta, there was a 
disposition among many to discredit the fact ; it may be proper 
to adduce a few names and places to establish the excessive po- 
lygamy of the Koolin Brahmins. 

The Ghautucksy or registrars of tlie Koolin cast, state, that Ra- 
)eb Bonnergee, now of Calcutta, has fortv wives; and that Raj- 
chunder Bonnergee, also of Calcutta, has forty-two wives, and in- 
tends to marry more ; that Ramraja Bonnergee of Bicramipore, 
aged thirty years, and Pooran Bonnergee, Rajkissore Chuttergee» 

'* the Catechist from his Palmyra leaf," The first Danish missionaries men- 
tion this art as practised at Tranquebar, near Travancore, by the natives. 
They also describe the Malabarians (and ^uch they appear to have called 
natives on the east side of the Peninsula, as far as the seat of their mis- 
sion) as '* a witty and sagacious people," and as " quick and &ha]'p enough 
'* in their way." Their sag^^acity, however, did not secure them from ihe 
grossest idolitry and superstition ; and they have only given an additional 
proof to what was before furnished by the Greeks and Romans, that the 
vjorld by wisdom kne^o not God. See an account of the " Idolatry of the 
Malabarians," in the Account of the Danish Mission in the East Indies., For 
aj) account of the literature of the Hindoos, see Sir Wilham Jones's Disser- 
I'ktjton on the Literatm-e of Asia. Amer. Edit.l 



72 



and Roopram Mookcrgee, have each upwards of forty wives, and 
intend to marry more ; that Birjoo Mookerges of Bicrampore, 
who died about five years ago, had ninety wives ; that Pertab Bon- 
nergee of Panchraw, near Burdwan, had seventy wives ; that 
Ramkonny Mookergee of Jessore, who died about twelve years 
ago, had one bimdrcd wives ; and that Rogonaut Mookergee of 
Bale Gerrea, near Santipore, who died about four years ago, had 
upwards of one hundred wives. 

The effects of this excessive polygamy are very pernicious to 
society ; for it is a copious source of female prostitution. Some 
of these privileged characters make it a practice to marry, mere- 
ly for the dowry of a wife ; and as she seldom sees her husband 
during his life, and dare not marry another after his death, she has 
strong temptations to an irregular conduct. This monopoly of 
women by the Koolin Brahmins is justly complained of by Brah- 
mins of the other orders ; and they have expressed a hope that it 
will be abolished by authority. They affirm that this (like many 
other reigning practices) is a direct violation of the law of the 
Shasters, which does not allow more than four wives to a Brahmin. 

1. 

Testimonies to the general character of the Hindoos. 

A s a doubt has been sometimes expressed regarding the real 
character of the Hindoos, and it has been supposed that their de- 
generacy only commenced in the last century, we shall adduce 
the testimony of three competent judges, who lived at different 
periods of time, and occupied different situations in life. The first 
is a king of Hindoostan, who was well acquainted with the higher 
classes of the Hindoos ; the second a city magistrate, who was 
conversant with the lower classes ; and the third an author, well 
versed in their mythology, and intimately acquainted with their 
learned men. The concurring testimony of these witnesses will 
be received with more respect on this account, that the first evi- 
dence is that of a Mahomedan, the second of a modern philoso- 
pher, and the third of a Christian : and to these we shall add the 
testimony of a Brahmin himself. 

5. In the Tuzuc Timuri, " containing maxims of Tamerlane 
" the Grcat, derived from his own experience, for the future gov- 
" ernment of his conquests,** there is the following mandate to his 
sons and statesmen : 

" Know, my dear children, and elevated statesmen, that the in- 
" habitants of Hindoostan and Bengal are equally debilitated in 
" their corporeal, and inert in their mental faculties. They are 

inexorable in temper, and at the same time so penurious and 
" sordid in mind, that nothing can be obtained from them but by 
" personal violence. It appears unquestionable to me, that this 
''^ people are under the displeasure of the Almighty, otherwise a 

prophet would have been appointed for them, to turn them away 

from the worship of idols, and fire and cows, and to direct them 
" to the adoration of the true God. Regardless of honour, and 
" indecent in their dress, they sacrifice their lives for trifles (they 



give their souls for a farthing), and are indefatigable in unworthy 
pursuits ; whilst improvident and imprudent, their ideas are con- 
" fined and views circumscribed. Like those demons who, with 
a view to deceive, can assume the most specious appearances, 
" so the native of Hindoostan cultivates imposture, fraud, and de- 
" ception, and considers them to be meritorious accomplishments. 
" Should any person entrust to him the care of his property, that 
" person will soon become only the nominal possessor of it. 
" The tendency of this my mandate to you statesmen, is, to 
preclude a confidence in their actions, or an adoption of their 
advice.* But should their assistance be necessary, employ them 
" as the mechanical, and support them as the living instruments 
of labour.'* Asiatic Miscellany, Vol. III. p. 179. 

2. The second testimony to the general character of the Hin- 
doos shall be that of Mr. Holwell, who was a city magistrate of Cal- 
cutta about the middle of last century. Mr. Holwell calls himself 
a philosopher; and, as such, he is an admirer of the Hindoo my- 
thology, and alleges that a Brahmin would be a perfect model of 
piety and purity, if he would only attend to the precepts of the 
Shastcrs. 

" The Gentoos, in general, are as degenerate, crafty, supersti- 

tious, litigious, and wicked a people as any race of beings in the 
" known world, if not eminently more so, especially the common 
" run of Brahmins ; and we car* truly aver, that during almost five 

years, that we presided in the judicial Cutcherry Court of Calcut- 
" ta, never any murder, or other atrocious crime, came before us, 
" but it was proved in the end that a Brahmin was at the bottom of 

it."t 

3. At Benares, the fountain of Hindoo learning and religion, 
where Capt. Wilford, author of the Essays on the Indian and E- 
gyptian Mythology, has long resided in the society of the Brah- 
mins, a scene has been lately exhibited, which certainly has never 
had a parallel in any other learned society in the world. 

The Pundit of Capt. Wilford having, for a considerable time, 
been guilty of interpolating his books, and of fabricating new sen- 
tences in old works, to answer a particular purpose, was at length 
detected and publicly disgraced. As a last effort to save his char- 
acter, " he brought ten Brahmins, not only as his compurgators 
but to swear by what is most sacred in their religion to the geu" 
" uineness of the extracts.'*^ Capt. Wilford would not permits 
the ceremonial of perjury to take place, and dismissed them from 
his presence with indignation. 

Among what tribe of barbarians in America, or in the Pacific 
Ocean, could there be found so many of their principal men, in 
one place, who would come forth, and confirm a falsehood in the 
presence of their countrymen, by a solemn act of the country's 
religion, like these learned disciples of Brahma at Benares ! 

* Marquis Cotnwallis was never known, during- his administration in In- 
dia, to admit a native to his confidence. Under the administration of Mar- 
quis Wellesley there is a total exclusion of native counseL 

j Holweirs Hi'^torlcal Events, p. T52. t Asiat. Res. Vol. VIII. p. 28. 
10 



4. To the foregoing we slrall add t\m testimony of a Bralrui'ivj^ 
inmself, extracted from a paper, entitled " A Defence of the Hiii« 
" doos." — " These ravages of Hindoostan (from the repeated inva- 
^' sion of the Mussulmans) so disturbed the peace of the countryj 
*' that the principles of its iahabitants were confounded, their 
" learning degraded, and their customs entirely forgotten. Thus 
" reduced, having no means of support, they were induced to prac- 

tise the vices forbiddeo-them ; they would have become savages., 
" or have been entirely rooted out, had not the glorious British na- 

tion established the standard of their government.'* 
See Defence of the Hindoos against Mr. Newnham's College 
Essay ; by Senkariah, a learned. Brahmin at Madras. Madras 
Gazette, 1 0th November, 1804, 

K. 

Ji wish Scriptures at Cochin, 

JL HERE is reason to believe that scriptural records, older thaa 
ihe apostolic, exist on the coast of Malabar. At Cochin there is 
a colony of Jews, who retain the tradition that they arrived in In- 
dia soon after the Babylonian captivity. There are in that pro- 
vince two classes of Jews, the \Vhite and the black Jews. The 
black Jews are those who are supposed to have arrived at that ear- 
ly period. The white Jews^emigrated from Europe in later ages. 
What seems to countenance the tradition of the black Jews is, that 
they have copies of those books of the Old Testament which were 
written previously to the captivity, but r ne of those whoSe dates 
are subsequent to that event. 

Some years ago the President of Yale College, in America, an' 
eminent archaiologist, addressed a letter to Sir William Jones, on 
the subject of these manuscripts, proposing that an inquiry should 
be instituted by the Asiatic Society ; but Sir William died before 
the letter arrived. His object was to obtain the whole of the fifth 
chapter of Genesis, and a collation of certain other passages in the 
Old Testament ; and also to ascertain whether the MSS. at Cochin, 
were written in the present Hebrew character, or in another Ori- 
ental Palaeography.* 

* ([The particular design of the late President S tiles, in soliciting- this 
inquiry, was to ascertain, whether the copy of the Pentateuch, belonging to 
the Jews at Cochin (supposing them to possess a Hebrew copy of remote 
derivation), accords with the Hebrew, the Septuagint, or the Samaritano 
The dilTerence betv/een these copies of the Old Testament, in the chronolo- 
gy of the patriarchal ages, is known to be great ; and he was very desirous 
to deterr.Hiic, if possible, which is correct. Although Sir William Jones 
died before thje President's Letter reached India, a member of the Asiatic 
Sr)ciety uckn.owledged the receipt of it, informing, that it was read at the 
fii-st meeting of the Society aft er its reception ; and that it would be answer- 
ed fey Sir Joim Shore, the President of the Society, as soon as he should re- 
ceive replies to the inquiries which he had directed to be made at Cochin! 
and Cranganore, respecting the points which " the laudable zeal" of the 
writer " wished to have ascertained."f— The long wislied for inquiry has at 
iQHthbeen made by the respectable Autitorof this Memoir, under the aus>- 

f See, Life of President Stiles^ 



f5 

In the year 1748, Mr. Romaine, the learned editor of Calasio'* 
rllebrew Dictionary, was meditating a voyage to India, for the sole 
purpose of consulting these manuscripts. 

The latest information respecting them is contained in a letter 
lately received from a learned missionary in the south of the pen- 
insula, who had resided for some time in the vicinity of Cochin. 
He states, that he " had constantly been informed that the Jews at 

Cochin had those books only of the Old Testament which were 
" written before the Babylonian captivity ; and trhat thence it i>i 
" generally believed by the Christians of the Deccan, that they 
" had come to India soon after that event. He adds, that the MSS. 

were on a material resembling paper, in the form of a roll, and 
" that the character had a strong resemblance to Hebi^cw, if not 
" Hebrew." 

By the inspection of these MSS. some light might be thrown 
on the controversy respecting (1.) the Hebrew and Samaritan let- 
ters ; (2.) ihe antiquity ot the vowel points ; (3.) the Scripture 
chronology; and (4.) the corrc'Ctness of the European copies of 
the Old Testament. Dr. Kennicott complains of a practice among 
the Western Jews of altering many copies to a conformity with 
some particular manuscript. He also accuses them of wilful cor- 
ruption ; as in expunging the word "b::" in Deut.xxvii. 26. Bish- 
op Louth suspects them of leaving out words in certain places,, to 
invalidate the argument of the Christians ; as for example," nlJD^" 
Isaiah liii. 8. j wiiere the Septuagint read " g*5 ^x-jxtov." But Jew3 

pices of the Marquis Wellesley ; and It appears, that the black Jews colofi= 
ized on the coasts of India long before the Christian cera ; that the very im- 
perfect resemblance of their countenance to the Jew^ of Europe indicates 
tliat they have been detached from the parent stock in Judea, many ages be- 
fore the r;ice of Jews in the West ; and that they are descendants from those 
ancient dispersions recorded in the Sacred History ; that corrobative of this 
is the fact, that certain of these tribes do not caU themselves ^ews, but Bc' 
ni-Israel, or Israelites ; that in the record chests of the synago^^ues of the 
Black Jews of Cochin have been discovered old .copies of the Law, some of 
which are complete, and for the most part legible ; tliat at the remote syn- 
agogues of the same description of Jews, situated at Tritoca, Paroor, Che- 
notta, and Malcii, have been found many old writings, among which are some 
of great length in Rabbinical Hebrew, but in so ancient and uncommon a 
character, as to require much time and labour to ascertain tlieir contents ; 
that they have, in most places, the book of the LaWj the book of Job, and 
the Psalms, but know little of the Prophets \ that some of them have even 
lost tlie book of the Law, and only know that they are Israelites from tra- 
dition, and from their observance of peculiar rites ; and that in a coffer of a 
synagogue of the Black Jew^s, in the interior of Malayala, there has been 
found an old copy of the Law, written on a roll of leathtr, about 50 feet 
long, composed of skins sewed together, so worn out, in some places, as to 
be patched with pieces of parchment. Dr. Buchanan brought from India a 
collection of Oriental Manuscripts, chiehy Bil^lical, written in the Hebrew, 
Syriac, and Ethiopic languages ; and presented them to the University of 
Cambridge in England. The Hebrew manuscripts were obtained from 'the . 
Black Jews ; and among them, it is presumed, is the old copy of the Law 
above described ; for the person employed in arranging and collating the 
Oriental Manuscripts for the Library, to which they are presented, observes : 
— A copy of the Hebrew Pentateuch, written on goat skins, and found in 
*' one of their synagogues, is in. the Buchanan collection." >ir - 



7b 



ia the East, remote from the learned controveiisy of ChristianSfj 
would have no motive for such corruptions. 

It is in contemplation of the Author of this Memoir to visit Co- 
chin, previously to his return from India, for the express purpose 
of investigating these ancient Jewish records; and also of exam» 
ining the books of the Nestorian Christians, who are said to pos- 
sess some MSS. in the Chaldaic character, of a high antiquity.* 

L. 

Shanscrit Testimonies of Christ, 

The learned Wilford, who has resided for many years at Be- 
nares, the fountain of Shanscrit literature, and has devoted himself 
entirely to researches into Hindoo mythology and Oriental histo- 
ry, has just finished a work which will be received with much sat- 
isfaction by the public. It is a record of the testimonies contained 
in the Shanscrit writings of the truth of the Christian religion. 

This work which is yet in manuscript, is now in circulation 
(January, 1805) with the members of the Asiatic Society, previ- 

• [Dr. Buchanan fulfilled his intention. In 1806,he travelled from Calcutta 
to Cape Comorin by land ; and proceeded from the sea coast into the interior of 
the country, north east from Qiiilon. In this sequestered region of Hindoostan 
he found churches, where, the inhabitants informed him, no European had, 
to their knowledge, visited before. It appears, that the number of Syrian 
churches is greater than had been supposed ; that there are, at this time, 
55 churches in Malayala, acknowledging the Patriarch of Antioch, and esti- 
mated to contain 23,000 people ; that their doctrines are not at variance in 
essentials with the church of England ; that their bishops, and the metro- 
politan, after conferring with his clergy on the subject, delivered the follow- 
ing opinion : ** That an union with the English church, or at least such a 

connexion as should appear to both churches practicable and expedient , 
** would be an happy event, and favourable to the advancement of reiigion 
that it is in contemplation to send to England some of the Sp-ian youth, for 
education and ordination ; that the old Syrians have continued, till lately, 
to receive their bishops from Antioch, but that ancient patriarchate being 
now nearly extinct, and incompetent to the aj^pointment of leai*ned men, 
** the Christian church in Malayala looks henceforth to Britain for the con- 
tinuance of that light which has shone so long in this dark region of the 
world ;" that Dr. Buchanan was about to commence the Malayalam trans- 
lation of the Scriptm'es, and that there are 200,000 Christians* in Malaya- 
lam, who are ready to receive it ; that there are various ancient Syrio-Chal- 
daic manuscripts in Malayala ; that a volume l;as been found in a rempte 
church of the mountains, containing the Old and New Testaments, engross- 
ed on strong vellum in large folio, having three columns in the page, writ-> 
ten with beautiful accuracy, in the Estrangelo Sja-iac (the character in 
which the oldest Syrian manuscripts are written), and illuminated ; that the 
Syrian church assigns to this manuscript a high antiquity ; and that it has 
been handed down to the present time under circvmistances so peculiarly far 
vourable to accurate preservation, as may justly entitle it to respect^ in tlie 
collation of doubtful readings in the sacred text. This volume was pre- 
sented to Dr. Buchanan by Mar Dionys'us, the archbishop of the Indian 
church, and is now deposited among the Oriental Manuscripts in the public 
library of the University of Cambridge. Amer, Edit.'] 

* In this estimate are included ivith the old Syrian f commonly called St« 
Thome, or Jacobite) Christiansy the Syrian Roman Catholics, a7id the Latin 
Roman Catholics. In some American Mditiom of the Star in^theJEast it fs 
imorrectly printed 20,000. 



Hi 



ausly to its publication in the Asiatic Researches. It is entitled, 
" Salivahana ; the Son of the Jacshaca, or Carpenter ; or Intro- 
duction of the Christian Religion into India; its Progress and 
" Decline." 

From these evidences it appears, that the prophecies of the Old 
Testament were recorded in the Shanscrit Puranas of India, as in 
the Sibylline books of Rome ; that the rumour of the universal 
dominion of the Messiah had alarmed the emperors of the East as 
well as the emperors of Roine ; and that holy men journeyed from 
the East, directed by a miraculous star, to see the heavenly child. 
It further appears, that many of the Shanscrit writings to which 
had been attributed a vast antiquity, were not only composed after 
the Christian 3£ra, but contain particulars of the advent, birth, life, 
miracles, death, resurrection, -oxxiS. ascension of our Saviour. 

To establish fully the authenticity of these important records,, 
and to invite investigation. Captain Wilford lias deposited his au- 
thorities and vouchers in the library of the College of Fort Wil- 
liam, and among the archives of the Asiatic Society. 

At the conclusion of the work the learned author thus expresses 
himself ; " I have written this account of the Christian religion 
" with the impartiality of an historian ; fully persuaded that our 
" holy religion cannot possibly receive any additional lustre from 



Cimiese Version of the Scrifitures ; and Chinese Literature. 



1 . X HE projected translation of the Scriptures into the Chinese 
language in England, which, we understand, has already obtained 
the most respectable patronage, is considered here as an underta- 
king, which will be attended with extreme difficulty, if it be not 
found altogether impracticable. Before any commencement be 
made, the subject ought certainly to be maturely considered, both 
in regard to the expense and the execution. The estimate is sta- 
ted to be thirty thousand pounds sterling, and doubtless the ex- 
pense of executing the work in the proposed form^ by tyfies^ (or 
even by copperplate, which would be the cheapest and perhaps 
the only practicable mode in England,) is not over-rated at that 
sum. 

2. But who is to translate the work ? Dr. Montucci's Diction- 
ary, now in the press, must indeed be a valuable performance, 
(judging from the genuineness of the materials and the erudition 
of the compiler,) and it will be of considerable use to any transla- 
tor, whether in China or in England. But will the united labours 
of Dr. Montucci and Dr. Hager ever produce a chapter of the 
Bible which will be intelligible to a native of China ? Without 
the aid of learned natives of the country to write their own lan- 
guage, or to hear it read by the translator, no work of this kind 
can be prosecuted with any confidence of its utility. This has been 
sufficiently proved to us in the versions in other Oriental languages 
(much more simple than the Chinese) which have been undertak- 
en .^t the College of Fort William Even the Arabic Bible, which 



M. 




78 



i& Txjw repiiblibbing in EnglaiTcl, can never be useful as a populaf 
v/oik in Arabia, it bein^ composed in the classic, and not in the 
vernacular dialect of tliat country. For a similar reason the old 
Persian translation is of no nse in Persia. 

3. But even supposing a Chinese version of the Scriptures to 
have been executed in Englanfl, how is it to be printed ? or in 
what form presented to the Chinese ? Has it bee-n seriously pro- 
posed to print it in a moveable tvpe, and on English paper i It 
ought to be printed, not in the moveable type, nor in the stereo?" 
type, but in the naoric commonly used in China. The characters 
are by the Cliinese engraved on a tablet of wood the size of the 
page, and the impression is thrG>¥n off, as by copperplates in Eng- 
land. At Canton, the dispatches from Pekin v/hich arrive in the 
morning, are put into the hands of the en^4:raver, and the newspa- 
per is thrown off in the afternoon of the same day. We have Chi- 
nese artists now in Calcutta, who engrave on wood with neatness 
and accuracy ; and who are competent to engrave the whole of the 
Scriptures in the Chinese manner ; aiid to print them on China 
paper, and in such a form, that the book shall appear to hav€ been 
published in China. 

If in this projected translation at home, the real object be utility 
to the Chinese people, by affording to them a faithful record of the 
revealed word of God in their vernacular tongue, we have no hes- 
itation in affirming that that object will be attained with more cerr 
tain advantage, by remitting one-fourth of the sum, which it ha$ 
been proposed to embark in the undertaking in England, to the 
College of Fort William in Bengal : which institution, it may be 
observed, (independently of this particular object, and considered 
merely as the fountain of Christian knowledge to the Oriental 
world,) is v/cil entitled to the ample sui)port of e¥ery Christiau 
church and religious society in Enro]>e. 

4. Since the College Report of Literature, published in "Septem" 
l^er last, (1 804,) a conimencement has been made in translating 
tiie Scriptures in the Chinese language. The book of Genesis 
and the Gospel of St. Matthew arc in course of translation ; and 
some chapters of each have already been printed olF. 

The translator is Johannes Lassar, a native of China, and pro- 
fessor of the Chinese language, assisted by a Chinese moonshee. 
He was lately employed by the Portuguese government at Macao, 
in conducting a correspondence with the court at Pekin. Being 
'an Armenian Christian, he translates from the Armenian Bible. 

It must be known to some of the learned in Europe, that the 
Armenian version of the Scriptures is one of the most accurate 
extant. It is also remarkable for its antiquity j being among the 
first translations after the Septuagint ; and is styled by the learned 
Orientalists, Golius and La Croze, the queen of versions." 
Though the Armenian language have no aSnity to the Hebrew, 
or to any other language in the world, it abounds in the Oriental 
idiom ; and this Bible is therefore considered by us as eminently 
tiseful in collating new versions io the Oriental tongues. Th^ 



n 



fiaiisH^orG of the Armenian Bible (called the Interpreters) werei* 
famed for their piety aiid learning- ; their lives are recorded in Ar- 
menian history in the fifth century of our aera, and their translation 
is reverenced by their nation as an inspired work. From this Ar- 
menian original, our translator (who is ignorant of the Greek and 
Hebrew languages) is enabled to render a faithful versioti into the 
language of China. 

We expect soon to be in possession of those portions of the 
Scriptures whkh have been translated into the Chinese language 
by the Romish missionaries ; and which are interspersed in their 
missals, and catechetical books. These specimens will be of use 
in the general collation of the text, and particularly in translating 
proper names ; since it would be improper to deviate unnecessa- 
rily from the expressions already familiar in China. 

The mode which has been adopted for editing the Chinese Bi- 
ble, is the following : 

Each verse is printed in English, in columns of one or t^o lines, 
from the top to the bottom of the page, and the Chinese version is 
printed in the usual manner, in a corresponding column. The 
English is introduced with a view to render the work a good class 
book for students in the Chinese language. The whole is translat- 
ed in the Mandarine dialect ; but wherever there appears a dan- 
ger of the sense being misunderstood, there are marginal readings 
in the familiar dialects. 

5. On the expediency of publishing the Scriptures in China, we 
shall offer a few observations. 

It is the solemn duty of our imperial nation to diffuse Christian 
knowledge throughout the world at all times ; but more particularly 
at those periods, when the providence of God shall point out to heu" 
the wfawsof doing it, and at the same time, offer to \-\qv advaiitage, 
by the execution. To the East and West of peaceful Hindoostan, 
there is a " shaking of the nations." This seems to be favourable 
not only to our own stability, but to the extension of our civilizing 
influence in Asia. The Wahabians to the West are extinguishing 
Mahomedanism. And the enemies of the Tartar dynasty in Chi^ 
oa threaten the overthrow of that ancient government. After a 
slumber of many ages, that mighty empire seems to be on the eve 
of a terrible convulsion. The spirit of insurrection which broke 
forth about five years ago in the western provinces, is now diffuse 
ing itself towards the eastern parts of the empire ; and a prophe- 
cy is spread abroad that the end of the Tartar dominion is at hand. 

The Chinese are permitted by existing law, to choose what re- 
ligion they please ; the present emperor and his court profess one 
faith, and the people another. They are a curious and inquisitive 
race, and would most certainly read any Tzc^y book which should be 
put into their hands. " The press in Clnna,'* says Mr. Barrow, 
" is as free as in England, and the profession of printing open to 

every one. It was the press in Europe that opened a free access 
" to the doctrines of that religion, which of all others, is best cal- 
ciliated for the promotion of individus] h^^pp'ness and public 



\ 



80 



virtue.^'* The copies of the bible would soon be multiplied iu 
China. If an individual (a prime mover of the revolutionary opin- 
ions in Europe) found means to send his" Rights of Man" to Chi- 
na,! shall not our national zeal in the defence of truth and of social 
happiness urge us to diffuse among that people a code of nobler 
principles ? There are no arguments against this measure of a 
benign philosophy and true philanthropy, but those which are con- 
tained in the books of Voltaire and Rousseau. 

6. The British nation, though so intimately connected with 
China by commercial negotiation, has no institution for instruction 
in the Chinese language at home or abroad. The consequences of 
such disadvantage, on ouv influence, our character, and our commerce 
at Canton, are well illustrated by an authentic historian, who had 
the best opportunities of obtaining information on the subject. | 

If it be possible any where to furnish to Europeans the means of 
regular instruction in the Chinese language, it may be expected at 
the College of Fort William in Bengal ; our propinquity to China af- 
fording opportunities of obtaining a constant supply of teachers and 
books ; and of maintaining a regular correspondence with its learned 
men. Our territories on the continent are contiguous to the Chi- 
nese frontier; and our islands are resorted to by the Chinese people. 

The French are at this time cultivating the Chinese language' 
with great assiduity ; and no doubt with a prospect of certain ad- 
vantage. We have in India satisfactory evidence that they meditate 
an embassy to China, or a descent on Cochin China, as soon as peace 
in Europe shall give them opportunity .§ " The French," says Mr. 
Barrow, ** aware of the solid advantages that result from the knowl- 
" edge of languages, are at this time holding out every encourage- 
" ment to the study of Chinese literature ; obviously not without 
" design. They know that the Chinese character is understood 

from the gulf of Siam to the Tartarian Sea, andover a very con- 
" siderable part of the great Eastern Archipelago ; and that the 
" CochinChinese, with whom they have already firmly roo^ec? them- 
" selves, use no other writing than the pure Chinese character, 
" which is also the case with the Japanese. It is to be hoped there- 
" fore that the British nation will not neglect the means of being 
able to meet the French, if necessary, even on this ground.^! 

• See Barrow's Travels, page 392. f Ibid. 396. 

i John Barrow, Esq. Secretary to Lord Macartney's Embassy. See hi^ 
Travels in China, page 616. Mr. Barrow is the only writer from Kircher 
downwards, who has illustrated China. 

^ During the short interval of the last peace, this expedition was talked 
of publicly at the Mauritius ; and mentioned to the Enghsh there as a pro- 
ject of France, to which the British government could not possibly have at? 
objection. 

^ Barrow's Travels in China, page 615, 



Objections against a mission to the hea- 
then^ stated and considered. 



BREACHED 

AT TOTTENHAM COURT CHAPEL, 

BEFORE THE FOUNDERS OF THE 

MISSIONARY SOCIETY, 

24 SEP. 1795. 

BY DAVID EOGUE, 



THE FIRST AMERICAN EDITIOK. 



CAMBRIDGE : 

PRINTED BY HILLIARD AND METCALF, 

For the ** Society of inquiry on the subject of missio?7s" in Divinity 
College, Ajidover. 



1811. 



SERMON. 



HAGGAI, i. 2. 

Thus speaketh the Lord of Hosts, saying, this people say, the 
time is not come, the time that the Lord's house should he 
built* 

WHA T dost thou here, Elijah ? was a question proposed 
of old, from the throne of heaven, to one of the most eminent 
servants of the Lord of hosts. His answer is recorded by the 
unerring pen of inspiration, in 1 Kings, xix. 14, and deserves 
our notice. / have been very jealous for the Lord God of 
hosts; because the children of Israel have forsaken thy cove- 
nant, thrown down thine eiltars, and slain thy Prophets with 
the sword. Should the Great Jehovah deign to ask the reason 
of our meeting at this time, and to say to each of us, V/liat 
dost thou here ? I trust we can reply, " We feel a zeal for 
" the glory of the Lord God of hosts : we are deeply gi'ieved 

for the state of the heathen nations, because they are stran- 
" gers to the covenant of promise ; aliens from the common- 
" wealth of Israel, and living without God, and without hope 
" in the world. Of the numerous temples which decorate 
" their cities, not one do we perceive dedicated to the one true 
*' God : They are all the habitation of idols. Altars we see 

in vast abundance, but not one erected to Jehovah. They 
" are all for sacrificing to demons, or gods the work of their 

own hands. With grief we behold the greater part of the 
" habitable globe in this condition, arid far more than one half 
" of the inhabitants of the earth ignorant of the true God, and 

of Jesus Christ whom he hath sent, whom to know is eternal 

life. And deeply concerned both for the honour of God, 
" and their salvation, we are met under the auspices, we hope, 
" of infinite wisdom, power, and grace, to concert a plan for 
" sending missionaries to the heathen, to proclaim the glad 

tidings of salvation through the blood of the cross, and to 

turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of 
*' satan unto God." 

O that the same spirit who came down on the apostles, oa 
the day of Pentecost, may descend on us, to inspire us with 
wisdom, love, and zeal, to make the meeting profitable and 



4 



delightful to our own souls, and to honour us as his instruments 
for conveying the knowledge of salvation to those miserable 
nations, which are sitting in darkness and in the shadow of 
death. 

You have already attended on the labours of five of the 
ministers of Christ, who have preached to you on this solemn 
occasion. It is allotted to me to close the service. May I 
be assisted with your prayers, and the supply of the spirit of 
Jesus Christ. What I have in vievtT is to consider the objec- 
tions, which may be raised against the design of our present 
meeting, and to suggest such answers, as will, I trust, be 
deemed satisfactory. The words of the text, set before us a 
class of men exactly similar to those with whom I am called to 
contend. 

They said, the time is not come^ &c. Difficulties and dan- 
gers appeared before their eyes ; the dispensations of Provi- 
deace, and the aspect of human affairs did not seem to favour 
their efforts, and therefore they think it best to relinquish the 
object for the present, and wait for a more convenient and aus- 
picious season. Too many now imitate the spirit of these an- 
cient objectors, and say, " The time is not come when the 
mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the 
tops of the mouatahis, and exalted above the hills, and all 
nations shall flow into it. The time is not come, the time 
" when God will give his Son the heathen for his inheritance, 
*' and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession." 
But the objections will, I flatter myself, be found equally vain, 
Jehovah himself deigns to answer those timid and incredu- 
lous Jews, declares their fears to be groundless, and coin- 
mands them to put their hand to the work v/ithout delay. 
While in a humble dependence on his aid, I attempt a reply 
to modern objectors, by considerations drawn from his word 
and Providence, may He, who teacheth man knowledge, and 
can make babes eloquent, suggest suitable ideas to my mind, 
and instruct me to express them in fit and acceptable words, 
that conviction may be carried to every heart, and that we 
may all with one accord cry out, " The time is come, the time 
" that the house of the Lord should be built. Let us labour 
with all our might, that it may soon rise strong, beautiful, 
and extensive, from the ruins, in which it has so long lain." 
Some think the following general observation sufficient to 
destroy the force of every thing that we can urge. " Num- 
berless difficulties present themselves to my mind, so that 
" I am quite discouraged : the object, though desirable, has 
" so many formidable hindrances, that in present circumstan- 
ces, it cannot succeed." 

In answer to this, I would briefly remarkj that the man, who 



does not expect difficulties, has estimated the matter unwisely* 
Pifficulties, the most tremendous difficulties, are to be looked 
for. Will satan sufFer his kingdom to fall without a struggle ? 
No, he will rouse all hell to arms against us ; and his instru- 
ments on earth, uniting themselves to the host from beneath, 
will do every thing in their power to prevent the progress of 
the gospel of the Redeemer. But here is the foundation of 
our hope. Christ has all power, both in heaven and in earth. 
He is infinitely mightier than his opposers, and all his enemies 
shall be made his foot-stool : and he has assured us, that He 
came to be a light to enlighten the heathen, as well as to be 
the glory of his people Israel. Carry ihis thought in your 
minds, my dear hearers, in the answer I propose to every ob- 
jection ; that, while I endeavour to shew it as void of strength, 
and point out the great encouragement we have to hope for 
success, our sole dependence, in the use of his appointed 
means, is placed here, namely^, on the wisdom, grace, and 
IDOwer of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

But I proceed to consider the strongest particular objections, 
which have occurred to my own mind, or have been suggested 
to me by others. 

It is objected by some : " The work itself is so very ardu- 

ous, that success cannot be hoped for." 

True, my friends, you have mentioned one of the greatest 
difficulties we have to encounter ; I perceive it in all its force. 
Were the attempt, to prevail with men of distant lands, mere- 
ly to lay aside their ancient prejudices, to cast their dumb 
idols, which cannot save, to the bats, and to the moles, and to 
assume but the outward profession of the Christian religion, 
even this would be unspeakably difficult. For we see how 
strongly people are attached to the religious systems, received 
by tradition from their fathers. But this would not satisfy 
us ; could we persuade them to renounce their idolatry, and to 
espouse the Christian name, and join us in the ordinances of 
worship, if we did no more than produce an external conform- 
ity, we should account nothing done. The object we have in 
view is infinitely beyond this. It is to illuminate the brutish 
mind of a Pagan, besotted with ignorance and superstition, in 
the knowledge of the truth, as it is in Jesus. It is to make 
him feel his miserable state as a sinner, and to lead him to a 
cordial acceptance of Christ, as made of God unto him, " wis- 
" dom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption." It is 
to bring him from the love of the world to a supreme love to 
God, as his Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier. Ii is to draw 
)iim away from the indulgence of divers lusts and pleasures, 
which reigned in his soul, and from all the impurities of a Pa- 
|jan conversation J to a life of unreserved and universal obedi- 



6 



cTice to ttie wiW of God. It is to lead him from the stupid ad- 
oration of stocks and stones, and the senseless, impure, or san- 
guinary rites of the Heathen mythology, to worship the Fa- 
ther in spirit and in truth, and to render to him the homage of 
a pure heart, wholl}^ devoted to his service. How. difficult 
these things are, no true Christian need be told. Yet this 
is what we ^Tish to do, what must be done ; and nothing short 
of this wili suffice. But who is sufiicient for these things ^ 
May we not sit down in despair and throw the design aside ? 
Yes, if we required or expected these things to be done by 
man, we might. But they are the work of God, v/hohas prom- 
ised to perform them : and then I say, why are ye cast down, 
ye timed souls, and why are your unberieving hearts disquiet- 
within you ? Man we regard as the instrument, as the pen 
in the hand of a ready writer, as the harp emitting a melodious 
sound ; but we look up to God for his mighty power to accom- 
plish the arduous work of the conversion of the soul. All now 
is easy ; every obstacle disappears. He who created all things 
out of nothing, by a word, cannot he create the soul anew in 
Christ Jesus unto good works ? He who raiseth the dead from 
the grav e, cannot he raise the chief of sinners from the death 
©f sin to newness of life ? He who turneth the shadow of death 
tmto the morning, and changeth the blackness of the night in- 
to the brightness of noon day, cannot he make the heathen 
inan,whov/as once darkness, light in the Lord, and enable him 
to walk as a child of light? Our faith is confirmed by the un- 
questionable evidence of facts. God has already performed 
this work in millions of instances, and in circumstances as un- 
favourable as we can possibly meet with. What he has done, 
he can still do ; for he is the same yesterday, to-day, and for- 
ever. With these truths let the 'Christian's mind be fortified ; 
and the objection v.'ill be heard no more. 

11. Another objection very frequently urged is, " that the 
time for the conversion of the heathen is not yet come, be- 
cause the millennium is still at the distance of some hundred 
years," 

It is not for you," said Christ to his disciples, on a certain 
occasion, to know the times and the seasons which the Fath- 
er has reserved in his own hands." Till predictions be ac- 
complished we cannot, in most cases, define v/ith certainty, the 
precise period of fulfilment. There are various opinions with 
respect to the commencement of the millennium, or that aera 
when all the nations of the earth shall have received the gos- 
pel. Many have placed it at the distance of two hundred 
^^ears, or in the two thousandth year of the Christian aera. Some 
suppose that it will begin about the midde of the next centu- 
jy. It is neither my province nor my purpose to determine 



the dispute. But I beg you to consider that in aiming to prop» 
agate the gospel, we are to be guided by what God enjoins 
as a duty, not by what he deliv^ered as a prediction. He has 
plainly told us, that " in Christ all the families of the earth 
" shall be blessed." He has informed us that by the preaching 
of the gospel this great work will be accomplished ; and he has 
taught us the stron,g^ obligations we are under to pity those 
who are sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death. Here 
is sufficient authority for us to form a mission without delay« 
Let all other things be left to God. I will grant, if you please, 
for the sake of argument, that before the millennium arrives, 
two hundred years must yet elapse. This in my view does 
not furnish any cause of discouragement. That the success 
of the gospel will be so rapid, " that a nation shall be born in 
" a day," does not appear to have the weight of evidence, which. 
many, without examining the matter, have always taken for 
granted. The work may be gradual, and if so, it v/ill be al- 
lowed, that it is more than time to begin. But if we consider 
the subject attentively, we shall be compelled to acknowledge, 
that in order to propagate the gospel throughout the whole 
world in the space of two hundred years, its progress must be 
rapid indeed. In that space, to bring ail the extensive Ma- 
hometan kingdoms to the faith of Christ, to convert all the 
vast Pagan empires in the east and north ; and all the idola- 
trous inhabitants in the thousands of islands scattered over ev- 
ery sea, the progress of the gospel must be amazingly greatp 
and millions must be converted in a year. In a word, the re- 
ligion of Jesus must have more rapid success tlian it has ever 
had, since it was first preached in the world ;^ more rapid suc- 
cess than it had under the ministry of the apostles themselves* 
So that if we view the objection closely, so far from being in 
danger of a spirit of procrastination, we must feel anxiety not 
to lose a single day ere we begin. If the shorter period men- 
tioned above be the true one, there is need of haste. 

Further, suppose we cannot hope for the millenniary state of 
the church among the heathen in our time, should that dis~ 
courage us ? I ask yoic, my brethren, who preach the gospel,, 
whether it was widi the hope of producing such a state, that 
you. undertook the pastoral care of the several churches, over 
which the Holy Ghost hath made you bishops ^ All will 
say, " We should rejoice in such a state, but we do not ex- 
*' pect it here in our days. We think ourselves more than 
" amply repaid, if we can see religion flourishing, though in a. 
" degree unspeakably short of die glory of the millennium." 
W ell then, if by the labours of our missionaries abroad we can, 
but produce such a state of religion as in the best of our 
lurches at home, will there not be the greatest reason to re- 



i 



joice that we have not laboured in vain, nor spent our money 
and strength for nought ? It may be the will of God, that by 
the labours of missionaries, religion shall attain the same de- 
gree of progress among those who are now pagans, as among 
us : and that thus they shall be prepared for some remarkable 
outpouring of the spirit, which shall precede arid introduce the 
glory of the latter days. 

What has already been effected by the preaching of the 
Gospel among the heathen, tends farther to destroy the force 
of the objection, and to encourage even sanguine hopes of do- 
ing great things. Every effort that has been made, ha» 
been crowned with as much success as could, all things 
considered, have been reasonably expected. The mission- 
aries of the church of Rome boast of hundreds of thou- 
sands, nay, of millions converted by their labours. But to pass 
over their zeal, and their patient, vigorous, ardent, and exten- 
sive exertions, and to say nothing of the facility with v/hich 
idolatrous pagans might embrace their shewy religion, their 
pompous ritual, and the worship of images, as all bearing some 
resemblance to their own system, the success of the Danish 
missionaries in Hindoostan, of the Moravian brethren in 
Greenland and the West- Indies, of the ancient pastors of 
New England, Elliot and Mayhew, among the Indian tribes, 
and of the Scotch society among men of the same origin, by 
the ministry of Brainard, Horton, and others in later times ; 
these all give us the most ample encouragement to proceed ; 
and plainly shew that God is willing by his spirit to give effi- 
cacy to the word of his grace, and " that the time to favour 
" Zion, yea the set time is come.'' 

III. Others say, "what is there in the state of the Christian 
" church at present that flatters with peculiar hopes of success 
" for a mission to the Heathen ? Many ages have elapsed, and 

little has been done ; what makes the time now so favoura- 
*' ble ? Are we better than our fathers ?" 

That Christianity has spread itself among the heathen na- 
tions, in a very inconsiderable degree, for at least a thousand 
years past, is a mournful truth. Indeed if we except the col- 
onies planted in Pagan lands, the boundaries of the church have 
been rather lessened than extended. But this is no ground of 
discouragement to those, who consider the matter with atten- 
tion. The church of Rome, which for the greatest part of 
this long space of time overspread nearly the whole of Chris- 
tendom, had so obscured Christianity by an innumerable mul- 
titude of rites, ceremonies, traditions, and errors, that the pu- 
rity and simplicity of the gospel were almost wholly defaced. 
In such a state of things, could we wish Popery to be spread 
over the face of the earth I What would this have been but to 



9 



substitute one superstition for another ? A reformation greatel* 
than the first, would have been necessary to make the people 
acquainted with the nature and spirit of the gospel. See ye 
not then, my dear hearers, sufficient reasons why it was the 
will of God, that what was then called Christianity should not 
become an universal religion in the world, and that the heath- 
en should continue in their Pagan state during the days of 
Popery ? 

At the reformation the bishop of Rome lost his power. 
From that time to the present century, the Protestant church- 
es spent their chief efforts in establishing themselves in author- 
ity ; in each party trying to vault into the saddle of power, 
and ride upon the back of all others ; in furious contests with 
each other ; in inflicting or enduring cruel persecutions ; in 
resisting oppression ; or in attacking, and defending themselves 
against the papal pretensions to dominion. These causes pre- 
vented the propagation of the gospel. In the present century, 
the nature of the church of Christ, as a spiritual kingdom, and 
not of the world, has been better understood than it ever was 
since the days of Constantine ; and Christians have felt their 
obligations to send the Gospel to the heathen nations* Some 
efforts have been made by different sects, but vv'ith one excep- 
tion, feeble in comparison of what might have been ; and I 
know not that any denomination has missionaries among the 
heathen, much exceeding in number the apostles of our Lord* 
Every one, however, who is awake, hails v/ith joythe dawning 
of a bright day of true Christian zeal for the spreading of the 
Gospel in the world, and salutes with affection the various 
societies engaged in this divine work. 

We have now before us a pleasing spectacle ; Christians of 
different denominations, although differing in points of church 
government, united in forming a society for propagating the 
Gospel among the heathen. This is a new thing in the Chris- 
tian church. Seme former societies have accepted donations 
from men of different denominations ; but the government was 
confined to one. But here are Episcopalians^ Methodists, 
Presbyterians, and Independents, all united in one society, all 
joining to form its laws, to regulate its institutions, and man- 
age its various concerns. Beheld us here assembled with one 
accord to attend the funeral of hig otrif : And may she be bu- 
ried so deep that not a particle of her dust may ever be thrown 
up on the face of the earth. I could almost add, cursed be 
the man who shall attempt to raise her from the grave. Be- 
sides the display of liberality, greater than has ever appeared, 
I might add, that it is likewise a time in which the doctrines 
6t the Gospel are at least as well understood, as they ever were 
before. If I should say better^ it would not be arrogance, ot 
2* 



10 



assuming any peculiar excellence to ourselves ; because we 
stand upon the shoulders of preceding ages, and the many- 
venerable men who lived before us, have by their labours il- 
lustrated and confirmed the truth, refuted error, and freed the 
Gospel from all foreign and corrupt mixtures. As God has 
favoured us with it in its genuine simplicity, may we not con- 
sider this as a happy omen, that he will cause it to run, and be 
glorified I When Christianity at first was most pure, God 
gave it great success j as it grew corrupt, its progress was 
stopped : Now, when he has restored it to its pristine purity, 
mav we not hope he will revive its ancient infiaence in the 
world ? When Christianity was divided into many bigotted 
parties, to propagate it would have been the diffusion of the 
rancour of schismatical violence, the hot spirit of sectarian 
zeal more widely in the world ; and therefore the Gospel was 
not spread. Now, when there is a union of different denom- 
inations acting cordially together for the propagation of their 
common Christianity, may we not look for success ? At first 
believers were all of one hearty and. of one mind; as to the 
things of religion^ in the latter days, it will most probably be 
so again. But is it not an approach to such a state, when the 
disciples of Christ, agreeing in the grand doctrines of the Gos- 
pel, unite in ministerial and Christian communion, and join to 
diffuse Christianity, and not their own particular sects j and a 
simple mode of church government, drawn from the apostoli- 
cal writings, which shall be found best adapted to the state of 
the heathen w orld, and not the distinguishing modes of any 
one denomination ? I cannot but augur well from such a be- 
ginning j and I own I feel a considerable degree of pleasing 
confidence, both that we shall be drawn into a closer union 
with each other at home, and that our united efforts will, by 
the peculiar blessings of heaven, be crowned with success, 
abroad. 

IV. A common objection is, " The governments of the 
" world will oppose die exertions of your plans," and defeat 
its design. 

Is not this groundless fear ? Let us hope they will not op- 
pose us. Why should they I From our own government we 
shall meet with no opposition t On the contrary, I flatter my- 
self they will countenance our proceedings, and favour our 
efforts, in countries where their influence extends. This I con- 
sider as an advantage to those missions which may be employ- 
ed in the vast empire of Hindostan. As to the govern- 
ments of the countries to which our missionaries go, I am 
sure they will have no reason to oppose us. It is a funda- 
mental law of our societv, " That the missionaries shall not 
" in the smallest degree interfere w^ith the p©litical concern^ 



11 



of the countries in which they labour, nor have any thing to 
say or do with the affairs of the civil government : And 
whoever shall transgress this rule, will be immediately dis- 
" missed with shame." The sole business of a missionary is 
to promote the religion of Jesus. Whatever may be the du- 
ties of a settled pastor in his own country, where he is not on- 
ly a minister of the Gospel, but likewise a subject, a citizen, 
and a member of the community, (all which relations lay 
certain obligations upon him, and call for a corresponding con- 
duct) it is certain that a missionary, who is an alien in a for- 
eign land, has nothing to do with civil affairs, and his only bu- 
siness is to propagate religion. The knov/ledge of our senti- 
ments on this subject, and the peaceable, harmless, and benev- 
olent conduct of our missionaries, may remove the prejudices 
of those in authority, and influence them to grant our friends 
protection, and treat them with kindness. Christianity is a 
system of divine truth, highly favourable to the peace, virtue, 
-and happiness of civil society ; gives by its moral principles 
the greatest stabiUty to governments ; binds together the body 
politic in the strongest and closest bonds ; and forms the sur- 
est barrier against those sentiments and vices which loosen 
the bands of social union, and endanger a country's welfare. 

But whatever in£uence these considerations may have on 
the minds of the rulers of the world, let us ever remember this 
reviving truth, That all human governments are under the do- 
minion of the great Head of the church, who turneth the 
hearts of kings, as he doth the rivers of water, and can so dis- 
pose their minds as to make them favourable to our plans, and 
willing to permit our missionaries to preach the gospel in the 
countries where they reign. On this doctrine should our 
hearts rest with unshaken faith j and here ought our chief de- 
pendence to be placed. Who will venture to assert, that the 
heathen governments, which now exist, are worse than those 
of old, where Tiberius, Claudius, Nero, and Domitian reign- 
ed at Rome ; or other monarchs at the same time in Parthia, 
Ethiopia, and India ? Ye^; under them was the Gospel propa- 
gated in the world. He, who of old made lions tame while 
Daniel was in their den, so contracted their rage, and conquer- 
ed theii- dislike, or else so fully engaged their thoughts about 
other subjects, that the word of the Lord had free course, and 
was crowned with great success. When they manifested cruel 
opposition to the cross of Christ, he moderated their fury, and 
after a season put a stop to their violence by death, or change 
of mind ; so that the truth continued insensibly to spread, and 
the very sufferings of believers proved the increase of the church. 
What God did then, cannot he do now f And are not the souls 
0f men and the interests of his church as dear to him now, 



they were then ? Animated by these encouraging views, may 
we not go forth, trusting in him, who is infinitely higher tha^i 
the highest upon earth, and who received his kingdom for thisi 
very purpose among others, that he might exercise his power 
in restraining and subduing.all the opposition, which the princi- 
palities and powers of this world should make to the diffusion 
of his glorious GospeL I proceed to a 

Vth objection. Many say, " The present state of the hea-, 

then world is so unfavourable with respect to religion, that 

little hope can be entertained of success." 

That the religious state of those countries, which are igno- 
rant of the Gospel, is truly deplorable, all, who view it with 
eyes enlightened from above, will readilv allow ; the dark 
" places of the earth are full of the habitations of ignorance 
" and cruelty." Mahometans blend some knov/kdge of a 
Supreme Being with a thousand absurdities ; and the Pagan 
nations have not gone so far in the path of religion, as to learn 
the existence of one God, the Creator of heaven and earth ; and 
are besides sunk into the lowest abyss of ignorance, idolatry, 
supf.rstition, and vice. A mournful sight indeed to the lover 
of God and man ! But what sentiments and conduct should it 
inspire ? When Paul of old surveyed the famous city of Ath- 
ens, hr saw the inhabitants wholly given to idolatry ; but did 
the views generate despair ? Did it influence him to leave the 
Athenians to follow their own wicked devices ? No, his spirit 
w as 'stirred within him ; the divine word was as a lire in his 
bones ; and he felt all the eagerness of apostolical zeal to pio- 
claim aloud in their ears the doctrines of the glorious Gospel. 
And should not the state of the heathen world, which is so 
deplorable, produce the same effect in us ? Were it not bad, 
it would not require our aid. In proportion to its badness, 
are we called to help ; and its extreme badness furnishes the 
most powerful motive to exert ourselves to the utmost, for 
the salvation of their perishing souls. Could we survey each 
of the heathen nations with minute attention, while we sav/ 
reason to weep over their deplorable situation, we should yet 
find no cause to despair of success ; their ignorance is brutish. 
But is not the Sun of Righteousness able to banish it, by shin- 
ing upon them v/ith salvation on his beanis ? Their prejudices 
may be strong and obstinate ; but is not the power of the glo- 
rious Gospel of the blessed God able to dispel them all ? Their 
enmity to the self-denying doctrine of salvation, by the righ- 
teousness of Christ, may be inveterate ; but is not the energy 
of divine grace able to bring down every high thought, that 
exalteth itself against the honour of his cross ? Their wicked- 
ness may be very great, and their long habits of iniquity such, 
^^ nature and reasoii caniqiot destroy j but is not the Holy Spint 



13 



4[)f Christ able to renew their depraved hearts, and to bring 
them tc the obedience of faith, and evangelical sanctity of life ? 
Some ' ,. cneir civil institutions, and modes of life, may appear 
to raise a ffv: midable barrier against the approach of the Gos- 
pel ; but is not the united power of divine Providence and 
grace able to level this barrier to the ground, and to make a 
plain path for the entrance of the religion of Jesus into the 
soiilf As an instance of the impediments thrown in the way 
by civil institutions and local customs, the different casts, into 
which die rcihabitants of India are divided, have been consid- 
ered by many, as pr seating a state of society, which must ef- 
fectually hinder their conversion j but is it proper for us to 
entertain such a thought ? That they are to be converted, is 
plain from the word of God. That this impediment will be 
removed out of the way, is equally certain too. God may, in- 
deed, by terrible things in righteousness, employ such dispen- 
sations of Providence, as shall effectually destroy these perni- 
cious distinctions which Satan hath formed, and so prepare the 
way for the entrance of the Gospel ; but he can easily do the 
work by the Gospel alone. To pass by the Mahometans 
there, who are not subject to these absurd restraints, the low- 
est classes cannot be much degraded by embracing Christian- 
ity, and those who have lost cast, not at all ; and, by our mis- 
sionaries associating with them, they may, on the contrary, 
acquire some degree of respectability and consequence ; and 
their souls are as noble and valuable, as those of the proud 
Bramins. When a hundred or two are converted, here is 
an asylum, into which converts of superior casts may retire, 
and the enlightening doctrines of the Gospel, when once they 
enter into their souls, will destroy the pride of casts, and con- 
tempt of others, and teach them to embrace with affection 
every Christian, whatever he formerly was, as a brother. And, 
when once a Christian cast, if I may so speak, is formed, it 
will appear more honourable than all the rest, and every be- 
liever will consider himself as exalted, not degraded, by the 
change. As the number of converts increases, the impedi- 
ment will be lessened, till at last it entirely vanishes away. 
Besides, when we recollect, what Christian converts have part- 
ed with, and what they have endured, in numberless instances, 
for the sake of the Gospel ; can we think it impossible for an 
Indian to submit to loss of cast, for the love of Jesus Christ, 
the joys of his salvation ? 

But the weakness of this objection will be still more appar- 
ent, if we consider for a moment, the state of the ancient Pa- 
gan world. The capacity and disposition of the Heathens, to 
receive the Gospel, is nota new question, just proposed for in- 
li^esti Ration ; it is above seventeen hundred years old. Nay, it 



14 



lias been tried, and a decision given in our favour. Tlie Gos- 
pel was preached to them, and it was crowned with success ; 
nor does it appear, that the condition of the heathens was more 
favourable to the Gospel, than it is now. In these ancient 
days, their ignorance of God was as profound, their prejudices 
as violent, their enmity as strong, their vices as detestable ; the 
worldly interests of many, who lived by the follies of supersti- 
tion, as much affected by the reception of the truth ; the Pa- 
gan priests were at least as numerous, as bigotted, as power- 
ful in their influence, and as feelingly alive to their honour, 
their wealth, and their rank among the people, as they are now 
in any land ; sages and philosophers were as proud, as strong- 
ly attached to their own systems, bore as great a sway over the 
minds of the people, from a supposition of superior wisdom, 
and discovered a sovereign contempt of Christianity, and its 
professors ; and princes were as jealous of their authority, as 
fearful of any thing that might infringe on their dignity, and 
as sanguinary in opposing whatever they thought had a ten- 
dency to lessen their power, as any can possibly be in modern 
times ; yet even then the Gospel flourished, and not merely 
while the preachers had the power of miracles and the gift of 
tongues ; but for ages after these had ceased. Does not this 
representation aflbrd much encouragement to us ? 

The wicked lives of men, called Christians, maybe urged as 
a peculiar disadvantage in modern times. It is undoubtedly 
a stumbling-block in the w^ay, and must beget strong prejudic-^ 
es in Pagan minds. But though this did not exist of old, the 
belief of it did ; and that was almost as bad in its effects. 
Need I inform you that Christians weie charged with mur- 
dering children, and drinking the blood in their solemn rites ; 
that they were accused of promiscuous intercourse in their re- 
ligious assemblies j that they were considered by the multi- 
tude as guilty of the most odious vices ? On these accounts, 
according to the prediction of our Lord, we are informed by 
some of the gravest historians, that the Christians were hated 
by the whole human race, as a detestable hord, polluted by 
the most atrocious crimes. With such sentiments, circulating 
among all ranks of men, and generally credited, did the an- 
cient Pagans hear the Gospel ; and, in spite of all these, mul- 
titudes embraced it. Matters, then, with respect to this cir- 
cumstance, are more nearly on a level, than may be at first im- 
agined ; and, as the convert of old, soon perceived the falsehood 
of the reports circulated against Christians; with the same fa- 
cility the regenerated Pagan now will learn the difference be- 
tween a true believer, and the mere nominal professor, who 
disgraces the title, and the stumbling-block is thereby remov- 
ed. The great David Brainerd informs usj that the rude In- 



15 



dians urged this objection against Christianity, from the wick- 
ed lives of its professors, and with all the energies of ingenuity 
and eloquence. But they were converted by the power of the 
Gospel : and the same glorious truths confirmed by the holy 
lives of our missionaries, and accompanied by the energy of the 
Spirit, will, I trust, still produce the same effects. 

Some might represent it as an advantage of modern times, 
that whereas of old, Christians were treated with contempt, 
and were for a season confounded with the Jews, a despised 
people, now many of the barbarous nations look up to Chris- 
tians as a superior race of beings, on account of their eminent 
skill in arts and sciences ; and are therefore more likely to re- 
ceive the Gospel. But I lay no great stress on it in the argu- 
ment. The people of Lystra, who venerated Paul and Barna- 
bas, as gods come down from heaven, and hastened with sac- 
rifices to testify their veneration, in a little while stoned them 
with stones, as the vilest of men, and dragged Paul out of the 
city as dead. I may however observe, on the whole of this 
particular, that we have no reason to shrink from the compar- 
ison, or to consider modern heathens as more averse to the 
Gospel than ancient heathens were. 

The great and hurtful mistake in the whole of this objection 
lies here. People consider missionaries going forth among^ 
the heathen as mere men, with no wisdom superior to their 
own, with no strength above human, and they are gi*eatly dis- 
pirited ; but did we view a missionary as we oughc, and as he 
is, v/ith Jesus his Master at his right-hand, accompanying him 
on the way, and the Holy Spirit resting on him like a flame of 
fire, with all his powerful energies, we could not be cast down, 
but mantain a cheerful hope amidst the darkest appearances of 
Pagan ignorance and obstinacy, and persevere, trusting in the 
Lord, and in the power of his might. 

VI. Another objection is, " How and w^ie re shall we find. 

proper persons to undertake the arduous work of missiona- 
" ries to the heathen." 

This is certainly a matter of the highest importance. On 
good missionaries how much depends ! It is indeed an ardu- 
ous office, and requires the union of two distinguishing qualities 
in an eminent degree, knoxvledge and zcaL A missionar)^ 
must be a burning and a shining light. Ihe rays of divine 
knowledge must shine forth biightly from his mind, and the 
fire of divine zeal burn with a pure flame in his heart. Heat 
without light will not suffice for the health and growth even of 
vegetables, far less of spirits. Heat without light is consider* 
ed as descriptive of the pit below, not of the New Jerusalenx 
where Jehovah dwells. He that goes to preach Chr'tst in heath- 
en lands, should be a scribe well instructed into the kingdoiB 



16 



©i° God. His knowledge of divine diings should exceed tlidi 
of an ordinary pastor of a church already formed, because from 
him a whole country may receive its views of the Gospel, and 
be cast as it were into his mould. And how pure and full 
should his ideas of the Gospel be ! When God sent forth the 
first missionaries to plant Christianity among the heathen, he 
inspired them with a perfect knowledge of it in all its parts. 
And is it not incumbent on us so far to respect the divine pat- 
tern shewn in the mount, as to do all in our power, that those 
whom we send out to the same glorious w'ork, shall be men 
eminently distinguished for an enlarged and comprehensive 
understanding of the mystery of the Father and of Christ I 
Things produce their like. Error in the missionary will pro- 
duce error in the converts ; ignorance will produce false and 
imperfect veiws ; and pure truth in all its parts will produce 
pure truth on the Pagan's mind, and sanctity and consolation, 
as naturally flowing therefrom. We are going to send, by our 
missionaries to the heathen, a gift of inestimable value ; and 
while we are anxiously careful that it may not be polluted by 
the defiling fingers of error, should we not also feel a holy so- 
licitude, that it may not be mutilated or defaced by the rude 
hand of ignorance ? But though knowledge be so important 
and so necessary, it is not sufficient of itself. The pale rays 
of the moon would bring neither grass, nor corn, nor fruit to 
maturity. To accomplish this, the sun's genial beams must 
diffuse their fructifying virtue over the face of the earth. In 
like manner^ to the light of knowledge there must be added, in 
a good missionary, the celestial heat of zeal ; pure, ardent, per- 
severing zeal for the glory of God, and the salvation of man, 
must, like unextinguished fire upon the altar, burn continually 
within his breast, unabated by all the difficulties and discour- 
agements which from time to time set themselves in array 
against him. I might add, that to these radical qualities, he 
should join the wisdom of the serpent to the harmlessness of 
the dove, the most exalted devotion, the most profound humil- 
ity, unconquerable meekness, and patience under sufferings 
and trials, which nothing can subdue. Such are the meff 
whom we wish to send to the heathen. To find them will be, 
we must own, a matter of great difficulty ; but the difficulty 
is not insurmountable. Such men have been found. There 
were many such in the primitive ages of the church, not only 
in the days of the apostles, but likewise in succeeding centu- 
ries, long after miracles and the gift of tongues had ceased to 
accompany the preachers of the Gospel. What has been may 
be again. There are just the same materials to work upon, 
and the same artificer, as of old. Human nature is just the 
same as then ; if it be not better, it is not worse. Christians,. 



ir 



too, are the same : there are the same divine principles in the 
tvord of God, and the same almighty grace in the Holy Spirit, 
to make them what they were in ancient days. Why then 
should not as good missionaries be produced now as of old ? 
Ministers are found, who are faithful, and zealous, and suc- 
cessful : but the same grand qualities are required in them, as 
in missionaries ; and it deserves inquiry, whether it may not 
be laid down as a general remark, " that the same talents and 
" dispositions, which form a good minister in England, would, 
" by a difference of application and by adaption to studies, 
" objects, and pursuits, somewhat varying in kind, have form- 
" ed a good and useful missionary for the service of the hea- 
" then." Besides, missionaries have been formed by other 
societies. The Danes, the Scots, the Moravians, have not 
been suffered to leave their plans abortive for want of labour- 
ers : and have not we as extensive a field of selection as any 
of them can boast of ? 

If we enter into a consideration of the requisite attainments, 
we shall find nothing insisted on, that is impossible. To learn 
the language of the heathen is necessary for a missionary. 
But do not ten thousands learn foreign tongues for amuse- 
ment, or for gain ; and will the love of Christ and of souls be 
found a less powerful motive for exertion ? Self denial is of 
indispensable necessity. But do we not see men practise it 
from inferior considerations ? They bid adieu to their dearest 
friends ; they cross the mighty ocean ; they dwell in the most 
sultry climates ; they associate with the rude and barbarous 
inhabitants ; and are for many years deprived of that society 
which was so sweet to them in their native land ; and for what? 
to amass wealth. And will not the certain prospect of treasures 
in heaven, and of one of the brightest crowns of glory, animate 
the Christian missionary to submit to similar hardships and re- 
straints ? Nor is this grace peculiar to him ; for in what part 
of the world can a man be a good minister of Jesus Christ, 
without the exercise of much self denial in his work ? Patience 
and zeal are required of a missionary in abundant degree. 
But do we not see them exercised by the man of the world, to 
attain the object of their pursuits ? How many are there now 
in India, who have been for twenty years patiently and zeal- 
ously following the wished-for prize. And when we consider 
this, shall we not be ashamed to object, that we are afraid we 
shall not be able to find missionaries, who will be patient and 
zealous, when labouring in the work of the Lord, that he may 
see of the travel of his soul and be satisfied ? To make the 
way of salvation known to pagans, how difficult ; yet absolutely 
necessary ! All good ministers feel something of this in convey- 
ing divine instruction to the young and to the ignorant. Be- 
•S 



18 



sides, does the adventurous trader continue to make himselt 
understood by the naked savages, if we have aught to buy or 
sell ; and though the subject be more difficult, cannot the mis- 
sionary let it be known that he brings the glad tidings of sal- 
vation to them, and that they are required to come and buy it, 
without money and without price ? Though hard, this is not 
impossible ; for he, who created the soul of man, framed the 
Gospel of Christ. And he made them so to correspond to 
each other, as that the soul should be large enough to receive 
the Gospel, and men of the most ordinary capacity in heathen 
lands should be able to understand it. 

But where, it may be said, are those missionaries ? Can 
you point them out ? Had Christ, before he called his disci- 
ples, informed one of the Jewish Rabbies that he wanted 
twelve men to send into all the world, and convert the nations 
to the faith of his Gospel, would not the wise Rabbi have 
smiled at the supposed folly, and have said, " where are these 

tvv^elve men to be found ? They have not yet breathed the 
" breath of life." But when Christ wanted these, he soon 
found them, and in situations where no proud Rabbi since his 
time would have looked for them. And after keeping them 
in his academy for three years and a half, where they received 
lectures in theology, and saw every principle displayed, and 
every rule exemplified in his life and at his death, he filled 
them with his spirit, and sent them forth to bring the nations 
into subjection to him. How well qualified they were for the 
office both their writings and the success of their ministry af- 
ford a satisfactory proof. And cannot our Lord with equal 
ease find out missionaries now ? He can and will. As soon 
as they are wanted, these objectors may be convinced that Je- 
sus will call them, put the desn^e into their heart, and they 
will offer themselves wiUingly for his service. Indeed I be- 
lieve that not a fev/ have already discovered an earnest desire to 
be employed in this arduous but glorious work. , In fine, if it be 
but considered with serious attention, that our Lord Jesus 
Christ, when he ascended up on high, received gifts for men on 
purpose to qualify them for every employment in his church, 
even the most difficult ; and that it is his office, and will be 
his delight to fit missionaries for pulling down the thrones of 
satan, and extending the kingdom of the Redeemer, certainly 
the objection will be withdrawn. Perhaps some may evea 
object, 

VII. Whence will the society and the missionaries be able 
to find support ? 

I cannot think the main difficulty lies here. Considerable 
funds will indeed be necessary ; but they will be also readily 
pi-ovided. When folly and vanity call for support, no lack of 



1.9 



ETiOney is observed. When an opera house or a theatre is to 
be erected, is it found impossible to provide funds ? And if 
these haunts of mere amusement can be raised with ease, shall 
it be an insuperable difRculty to procure a sum of money to 
convey instruction necessary to the happiness of immortal 
souls ^ If the lovers of vanity be thus liberal to gratify a for- 
lorn and depraved taste, shall not we, who profess to love God 
and Christ, and the souls of men, exert ourselves, and contri- 
bute of our substance to attain the highest ends which a 
creature can possibly pursue, the end, for which Jesus shed 
his blood upon the cross ? Are thousands of professing 
Christians riding in chariots, and shall support be wanting 
for missionaries to travel in the apostolical mode for the 
conversion of the heathen ? " Is it time for you (says the 
*' prophet in the context to the Jews of old) to dwell in ceiled 
^' houses, and this house lie waste r" The same argument 
would I urge. Many of you dwell in splendid houses, ele- 
gantly furnished ; and some have more than one ; and have 
you nothing to bestow towards building the house of the Lord 
of hosts ? Others are growing rich through tlie bounty of 
Providence ; and have you nothing to spare for Christ and 
his cause ? It cannot be. It is needless to urge the mat- 
ter. In this manner had I purposed to reason v/ith you. But 
to my unspeakable joy, you have rendered these few hints al- 
most needless by the many examples of generosity, which have 
far exceeded our expectations. Here we have already be- 
held, and there certainly we shall still behold the triumphs of 
Christian benevolence, and the liberal free-will offerings of pi- 
ous zeal. The abundant oblation of the affluent ; the gene- 
rous contribution of the industrious, the day labourer's pence, 
and the v/idow's mite, will furnish a sacred treasure sufficient- 
ly ample for building the house of the Lord in all its glory, 
and for providing support to those who minister in the sanctu- 
ary from year to year, till the heathen say, It is enough." 

An Vlllth objection, urged by many is, " There is no 
" door opened in Providence for the entrance of the Gospel : 
" We should wait till such an event take place," and then 
diligently improve it. 

Is not this founded in a mistake ? Certainly a door is open- 
ed in Providence ; and we are called upon to enter in. For- 
merly, in the dark ages, nations had little intercourse with one 
another ; and such as were separated by the sea, or by coun- 
tries intervening, scarcely knew of each other's existence. 
But since the invention of the mariner's compass, every part 
of the globe has been explored ; nearly all the tribes of the 
earth have been brought into view, and some kind of inter- 
course established with them. And for what end is all this^^ 



20 



Was America discovered to our view, that those inhuman 
ruffians, who first landed on her shores, might rob the inhabi- 
tants of their country, murder them by millions, and send the 
few that remained into the bowels of the earth to dig for gold 
to allay the cravings of their accursed avarice ? Were thy 
coasts, O Africa, unveiled to our eyes, that Christian mer- 
chants, sanctioned by Christian legislatures, might drag thy 
unoffending sons and daughters from their native soil, and all 
the tender charities of life, to be bondmen and bondw^omen in 
their distant colonies, till welcome death put an end to the 
bitterness of sorrow, and proclaimed deliverance from the gal- 
ling yoke ? No one that has the spirit of man within him will 
dare to assert the impious falsehood. Do ye think, ye men 
of literature and philosophy, that the chief design is to gratify 
your curiosity, to make your maps more fuii, your systems of 
geography more complete, and your histories of man in his 
various forms and institutions more perfect ? Do ye suppose, 
ye men of commerce, that the great end of God in this dis- 
pensation is, that the manufactures of England might find a 
more extensive and profitable market, and that the commodi- 
ties furnished by these distant lands might minister to our 
convenience, luxury, and affluence ? No ; these are the false 
imaginations of worldly men who see objects through a dis- 
torted medium. The true state of the case is this : God in 
his Providence has discovered these nations to us, and given 
us intercourse with them, that a door might thereby be open- 
ed for the entrance of the Gospel, and that messengers might 
be sent to them with the joyful tidings of salvation by the 
cross of Christ. Nay the very discovery of them is the hand 
of God, opening the door, and a loud call to the lovers of the 
Gospel to enter in, and labour for the salvation of perishing 
souls. Philosophers account the mere discovery of these dis- 
tant countries, a door opened for them to go in, and reap all 
the improvements which science can possibly collect. Mer- 
chants think the mere discovery, a door opened wide enough 
for them to go in, and purchase from the inhabitants the com- 
modities of their own country, and dispose of their own in 
return. And after this shall we hear Christians whine that 
a door is not opened to the heathen for them to enter in, and 
strenuously exert themselves for the salvation of guilty and 
miserable men ? For shame, brethren, shall it be said, that th^ 
love of science, and the love of gain are more powerful in their 
principles, more active in their exertions, and less cold and 
formal in seeking an introduction to the heathen, and cultivat- 
ing a friendly intercourse with them, than Christian zeal, and 
^e love of immortal souls ! 

What door, I would ask, do you wish to be opened to you ? 



21 



what do you effect ? what can you expect more than is already 
done ? We have the Gospel* They have souls to be saved. 
We know how to convey it to them. We can learn their lan- 
guage to teach them religion, just as readily as another can to 
acquire wealth, and so have a door of utterance. And by 
humble and fervent prayer, we may hope for the divine bless- 
ing and God's powerful aid, to convert the sinner and give a 
door of entrance. What more then can we require ? What 
is necessary besides, to constitute an open door ? Do you ex- 
pect they will send for us to come to them ? But how can 
that be, seeing they"^re ignorant of the Gospel, and know not, 
unhappy creatures, what the invaluable blessing is, which they 
need, and which we have to bestow upon them ? 

Some men in the course of life, meet with uncommon events, 
or miracles in Providence ; and are therefore ready to look 
for something extraordinary in the way of direction and en- 
couragement. But this is not God's common method in the 
government of the world ; nay not even in his dispensations 
towards the church. If you read the history of the planting 
of Christianity, you will find in a very few instances God giv- 
ing his apostles partici^lar directions to whom to go, and where 
to preach. But ordinarily there was nothing of this : they 
went forth, led by the dictates of Christian providence, and 
Christian zeal, wherever there were precious souls, and preach- 
ed the word, the Lord working with them. From an accu- 
rate perusal of ecclesiastical history it appears, that this has 
been the way ever since, in all the efforts which have been 
made to propagate the Gospel, even in the most remarkable 
seasons. What open door had Luther, Zwinglius, and Calvin 
to preach the doctrine of the cross to the millions sunk in ig- 
norance and superstition ? Were they guided and authorized 
by visions and revelations of the Lord ? or did they at first 
find men inviting them to expose the errors of popery, and to 
feed them with evangelical doctrine ! No, it was while they 
preached, that people were convinced of their errors, and em- 
braced the truth. And this may be considered as a general 
l-ule. Before the ministers of Jesus set out to preach, matters 
had been precisely in the same situation as now with us. 
Providence unbarred her gate, and shewed them where there 
were souls to be saved, and this was all the encouragement 
she gave. But when they had gone forth, and were preach- 
ing the word, God opened the door of faith, removed obstacles 
out of the way, and gave efficacy to the word of his grace, and 
this frequently, where at first there were the most unpleasing 
appearances, and the most violent opposition. If these things 
be seriously reviewed, it will no longer be objected, that a door 
is not opened for the preaching of the Gospel to the heathen. 



22 



IX. It is objected by some, *' what right have we to mter- 
fere with the religion of other nations 

Some think it enough, if people have a religion ; and if they 
be sincere in it, they conclude, that they shall certainly be sav- 
ed ; no matter of what kind the religion is. This discovers 
the lowest abyss of mental stupidity, and an utter ignorance of 
the nature of God and virtue. Is there not a difference in 
things themselves ? Will poisoia nourish the body, like whole- 
some food ? Will a spell or a charm heal diseases, like an ef- 
ficacious medicine ? Will darkness serve to shew a traveller 
his way, as well as light ? If a man sets out on a journey and 
advances with diligence, does it not matter, whether he be on 
the right road ? Is there no difference between truth and er- 
ror, between verity and falsehood, between right and wrong ? 
Can the infinitely wise God be pleased with a religion, full of 
ridiculous absurdities ? Can a holy God be delighted with an 
homage, which does not proceed from holy dispositions, and 
which has no tendency to produce them? Can a righteous 
God ever accept services which give no honour to his recti- 
tude ; but on the contrary, trample it under foot ? Can a good 
and gracious God look with approbation on a ritual, sangui- 
nary in its nature, and noimshing the seeds of enmity and re- 
venge, and \Fhere there is not a spark of benevolence, or love 
to God, and love to man ? If after this, a person will still 
maintain, that it matters not wdiat a man's religion is, provid- 
ed he be sincere, to argue with him is to lose both time and 
labour. 

But some who acknowledge the religion of " the heathen to 
" be bad," still say, " what right have we to interfere ?" If 
report speak truth, this was urged in the first assembly of a 
Christian land, by a great name in the literary^ nay in the r^- 
Iigious^ or rather in the ecclestastkal world. How little weight 
there is in the objection, whenever, or by whomsoever urged, 
will be evident, when you consider, that we have an authority, 
paramount to every other ; the authority of Jehovah himself, 
for carrying the Gospel to the heathen ; and not only his au^ 
thority, but his express command, which makes us criminal if 
we disobey. " Go," says the Son of God, to his disciples, 
Matt, xxviii, 19, " go, teach all nations, baptizing them in the 

name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost ; 
" teaching them to observe all things w hatsoever I have com- 

manded you ; and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the 

end of the world. Amen." Such is the commission, and it 
must abide in force, till it be executed ; that is, till all nations 
be taught, and with respect to time, until the end of the world, 
should the design rot be accomplished sooner. As the na- 
tions are not yet all taught the religion of Jesus, it is evidenty 



23 



that the obligation to teach them, is in force on us, as his dis- 
ciples ; and we have the highest authority to proceed in the 
work, and to interfere with the religion of the heathen nations* 
But to descend from authority to reasoning : Is not active 
benevolence one of the grand principles of Christianity? I 
never felt the obligation to exercise it in an extensive degree, 
as I do now ; and I fear we have all greatly neglected this 
part of duty. Benevolence teaches us to do good, both to the 
bodies and souls of man ; and the numerous distresses, and 
miseries, which overspread the earth, are loud calls to every 
Christian's benevolence for relief, and to his utmost exertions, 
if possible, to lessen or remove them. If a country were 
starving from a grievous famine, would it be a culpable inter- 
ference, to freight a vessel, and send them our bread to eat ? 
And if their souls be starving from a famine of the word of 
God, shall it be accounted wrong, to convey to them the bread 
of life ? Did pestilential disease ravage an unhappy land, 
and there was no medical man to administer relief ; if a phy- 
sician should kindly go to dispense a sovereign remedy, and 
restore the sick to health, would it be an improper interfer- 
ence ? And if by the raging of the mortal malady of sin, the 
whole head be sick, the whole heart faint, and miserable pa- 
gans ready to perish, is it blamable to attempt to heal and save 
their diseased souls ? If we heard, that in a pagan countr)^, 
superstition and fanaticism brought annually to the altar a 
hundred thousand men and women, would an attempt in some 
ardent philanthropist, to convince them of the folly and wick- 
edness of the barbarous custom, be a criminal interference with 
the religion of the infatuated people ? And shall the endeav- 
ours of Christian benevolence to save hundreds of thousands 
of perishing sinners among the pagans from the miseries of 
the second death, be branded with the defaming name of a 
meddler in other men's matters ? If a nation were ignorant 
of the arts of civilized life, and of those discoveries which 
contribute to human happiness, would it be a culpable inter- 
ference for a society to send persons to teach men to sov/ and 
plant, to build houses, and procure abundance of every com- 
fort ? And shall a crime be imputed to those who would teach 
rude pagans, ignorant of all the arts of the spiritual life, the 
science of faith in a Saviour, the art of holy living, so as to 
please God, the way of maintaining fellowship with the Fa- 
ther, and with his Son Jesus Christ, and the certain method of 
securing eternal blessedness beyond the grave ? Rise up no\\\ 
thou who interest the objection, and say, what man, or body 
of men, have obtained a patent from heaven, to stop the cur- 
rent of Christian benevolence from flowing through the place 
ef their abode, or to concenter and perpetuate misery in th& 



24 

country where they dwell ? Stand forth, and speak before the 
thousands who surround thee. But thou art wise to hide thy 
head for shame, and conceal thy folly. Once more, 

X. Others say, We have heathens enough at home, let 
*' us convert them first before we go abroad." 

That there are vast multitudes in England, as ignorant as 
heathens, it is painful to be compelled to acknowledge. That 
every method should be employed for their instruction and 
salvation, what Christian will not loudly affirm ? But do you 
mean by the objection, that all the people at home should be 
converted before we go abroad ? This mode of arguing would 
effectually prevent proceeding in the villages too, because those 
who are in town may on these principles say, " There are 
hundreds in the neighbouring streets, still in a state of im- 
" penitence ; why therefore should I go out into the places 
*' around, while there are so many wicked people at my door." 
Such reasoning and such conduct would hinder the progress 
of the Gospel in the world, and restrain that active benevo- 
lence, to which God has here assigned some peculiar service, 
and to which he has proposed objects so numerous and im- 
portant. 

The apostles did neither argue nor act in this way, else they 
had never gone beyond the bounds of Jerusalem or Judah ; 
and the Gentiles had remained ignorant of the gospel unto this 
hour. Had Peter said, " There are unbelieving enough in the 
" land of Canaan, let us convert them first, before we go to 
" the Gentiles," what would have become of those, who were 
not of the seed of Abraham ? Or if Paul, the apostle of the 
Gentiles, when he went down to Antioch, and preached in that 
populous city, had, if requested to go into Greece or Italy^ 
made this reply : Why should I ; there are a hundred thou- 
sand heathens in A^ntioch : It is needless for me to go further^ 
as long as 1 live : What would then have become of us, or of 
all who live in these remote parts of the earth ? But this ob- 
jection is not derived either from apostolical reasoning or con- 
duct. 1 hey were itinerant preachers : They travelled from 
city to city, and frum country to country. Wherever they 
went, they scattered the seed of the word, made converts, form- 
ed them into a church, and then removed to some other place, 
where the sound of the gospel had not been heard. This has 
likewise been the method in all remarkable revivals of religion^ 
as at the reformation from Popery, and in more limited effu- 
sions of the Holy Spirit on particular lands. Besides, it is 
with a bad grace indeed, that the objection is offered among 
us. For more than two hundred years has the Gospel been 
preached in England ; and now, when it is proposed to send 
it to Pagan nations, an objection is raised, in order to quench 



the siicred fire of pious zeal. What have you been doing all 
your days in converting the heathen in the dark places of Eng- 
land ? If nothing, with what face could ye object to this be- 
nevolent plan ? If something, then go on at home, while oth- 
ers labour abroad : and both domestic and foreign heathens 
will leceive unspeakable benefit. That apostolical man, Brai- 
nerd, mentions, that the conversion of the Indians had a very 
happy effect on some of the people in America, by producing 
a solemn fear lest they should be rejected and cast off. Sin- 
gular advantages will, I trust, result to the people of England 
from the successful exertion of our plan, and the zealous ef- 
forts of our missionaries among the distant and unenlightened 
nations of the earth. 

I have now considered every objection, which appeared like- 
ly to be raised. Shall I flatter myself that I have given a sat- 
isfactory answer ? Where prejudice and dislike to the cause 
proposed the difficulties, it is not to be expected that I should 
prevail. But where the' objections have been made by candid 
and impartial minds, which had not weighed the matter atten- 
tively, nor had sufficient means of information, I would fain 
hope I have not spoken in vain. 

Is there then no difficulty in the way, but may be surmount- 
ed ? Let me intreat you all, my brethren, to exert yourselves 
to the utmost in this glorious work. There is but one privi- 
lege I know of, which we have above the saints in heaven. It 
consists in a capacity of being instrumental in the conversion of 
sinners to God. With what avidity should we improve it ? 
An opportunity now presents itself : embrace it without de- 
lay. I need not inform you that there is one way in which 
you may all promote it — by your prayers* Here let all unite. 
Whenever you enter into your closet, let there be one suppli- 
cation for the blessing of God on the missionary society. Re- 
member it always in your family devotions : and let it never 
be forgotten in public worship. While it is not forgotten, see 
that you offer up the effectual fervent prayer of faith. It has 
been remarked by some, that in the intercessory part of pray- 
er, the devotion of the assembly has been most relaxed : let us 
aim that the observation may no more have place ; but that then 
the souls of the worshippers may burn with peculiar ardour. 
Your pecuniary aid I need not urge ; when called upon, your 
generosity will be displayed. And if dire necessity should 
prevent any of you from performing this act of benevolence, 
it will, I am sure, fill you with regret to be obliged to with- 
hold your hand in so good a cause. Cultivate a spirit of zeal 
for the prosperity of the kingdom of Christ in the world ; and 
seek to have your souls enlarged in ardent desires for the sal- 
vation of precious souls. Recommend this glorious cause to 
4 



^6 



isthers. Interest in it as many as you can ; and strive to kin-^ 
die in the breasts of all around you that ardour of zfaV which 
you yourselves fell. Thus will it spread from soul to soul ; 
and the number of those, who pray and long for the conversion 
of the heathen, be greatly increased. Consider this, I beseech 
you, for it is not considered by any of us as it ought : " One 
" important idea conceived in the mind of an individual, and 
" uttered with energy in conversation, will swiftly fly from man 
" to man, till in the space of a year it has enlightened the un- 
^' derstanding, warmed the hearts, and giveii a direction to the 
*' conduct of thousands : and it is still in a progressive state of 
^' extension. In process of time it may influence a nation, 
and a world." 

To find missionaries for the service of the heathen, as it is a 
matter of the last consequence, so it is a thing in which all 
should give their aid. There are many whom modesty con- 
ceals from public view, that would be good messengers of the 
gospel of peace. The man who shall point out one of these 
will render us an essential service. Blessed are ye among 
men, women, who have children, that shall dedicate themselves 
to the service of the Lord Jesus among the idolatrous nations. 
Had I a son arrived at years of maturity, who was qualified 
for the office, I should feel the most delicious sensations at 
seeing him offer himself as a missionary to the heathen, and 
embark for India, or some remote island in the most distant 
sea« I should think him better provided for, than if he went 
to Hindostan, under the most powerful patronage, with the 
fairest prospect of affluence and honours. And should he at 
seme future time return for a season, and in giving you an ac- 
count of his ministry be able to say to you, There are hun~ 
" dreds of persons in the place from which I came, who have 
*' been converted by the ministry of the word ; and v/hom 

God hath honoured me to turn from idols, to serve the liv- 
" ing and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, 

even Jesus, who delivereth us from the wrath to come," I 
should esteem it a greater honour to myself, and a greater hap- 
piness to him, than if he were to visit his native land with the 
princely treasures and the eastern splendour of a Hastings or ' 
a Glive. But how great will our obligations be to those who, 
having received from the God of providence and grace, the 
grand qualities of good missionaries, shall come forward and 
offer themselves for the work of the Lord. Honourable in- 
deed, among men, honourable in the eyes of angels and of God 
will our first missionaries be. Hail, ye blessed of the Lord, I 
admire your choice : I feel a veneration for you ; may the Lord 
go w ith you, and bless you ; and what you lose in the pleas- 
lares of civilized society, may you find more than compensate^ 



m teilowship with God, and in seeing your labours crowned 
with abundant success. Delightful will it be to you to be sur- 
rounded with your converts, and to find in them fathers and 
mothers, sisters and brothers, sons and daughters, relatives 
and friends. Your place in heaven will be near to apostles, 
martyrs, and reformers ; and your crov/ns shine with superior 
lustre. We, who are merely stated pastors in churches already 
formed, look up to you as our superiors, and honour you as 
displaying that dignified temper and conduct which places you 
high in the scale of moral excellence. 

Why should w^e be cast dow^n at the prospect of difficulties 
in the w^ay ? Let our whole dependtnce be placed in the wis- 
dom, power, and grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. He can ex- 
alt every valley, level every m.ountain and hill, make the way 
to places plain, and the crooked straight ; and by removing 
every stumbling block, prepare the rough for his servants, and 
make the triumph of the cross glorious in the eyes of the na- 
tions of the earth. To attem.pt is noble. To fail here is more 
honourable than to succeed in most other pursuits. Should we 
fail of success, while w^e may be grieved that the heathen are 
still to remain in darkness, we shall have no reason to repent 
of our undertaking. Will the future part of our life roll on 
more unhappy or disreputable, because w'e attem.pted without 
effect to extend the boundaries of the kingdom of Jesus Christ? 
W^ill it tinge our cheeks with shame, when we are laid upon a 
death bed, that we were strenuously engaged in an imsuccess- 
ful effort, to spread the knowledge of Christ among the heath- 
en ? Or will it co\ier us w^ith blushes when we approach the 
'throne of God at the judgment, to have it said by an attending 
spirit, " That man was an ardent supporter of an unsuccessful 

society, whose object was to bring the heathen to seek sal- 
" vation through the blood of the Redeemer's cross." 

But I hope better things, even the success of our plan 
for the salvation of the heathen, though I thus speak. Yet 
mistake me not ; discouragements, many and great, we may 
meet w^ith, and perhaps want of success w^here our hopes are 
most sanguine. Nay, Providence may seem to frown on our 
attempts, the ears of Jehovah to be shut against our prayers, 
and seasons roll on with little prospect of advantage. Be not 
cast down at this, nor surprised if scoffers laugh loud amidst 
their derision of our folly. Why that despondency ? Whence 
came that in^pious whisper, " w^e may now give up all for 
" lost ?" Remember God seeth not as man seeth : he w'orketh 
not as man w^orketh, and he accomplishes his plans in a w^ay 
peculiar to himself. In those designs which are most pleasing 
in his sight, and to which he has determined the most favour- 
able issue, it frequently happens, that it is not till after a trial 



28 



of persevering faith and patience, that he gives success ; and 
when he does give it, it is xvhere and xvhen^ and in a manner 
we did not expect. Success in God's place, and time, and way, 
I do look for on our elForts : we have every encouraging rea- 
son to build our hopes upon, and if M'^e should succeed, O how 
delightful the prospect which rises to our view ! Idolatrous Pa- 
gans changed into Christians, who worship God in spirit and in 
truth. Churches formed of worshippers of stocks and stones ; 
and prayers and praises ascended to God and to the Lamb, in 
lands where the voice of Jehovah was never mentioned before. 
What joy must there be in heaven, when the saints and angels 
there look down and behold the glorious change ! Who can ex- 
press the delight that we shall feel, to see our missionaries visit 
lis after revolving years, accompanied by some of their converts, 
presenting the gods of the heathen, which their former wor- 
shippers have sent as symbols of the triumphs of the cross, and 
unequivocal evidences of their contempt for idolatry, and that 
they now treat with derision those things, which were once 
deemed most sacred. How sweet an employment to hear them 
recount the great things, which God hath been pleased to do by 
their ministry, and expressing an anxious wish to return to their 
dear children in the Lord, animated with the most ardent de- 
sire to extend more widely the boundaries of the Mediator's 
kingdom j how reviving to receive accounts of increasing suc- 
cess from year to year ! And should we, through the mercy of 
God in Christ, reach the world of glory, what ecstacy shall we 
feel at seeing multitudes of converted Pagans enter heaven, of 
whom it is proclaimed, that they owe theiii knowledge of sal- 
vation to our present meeting. To conclude, this year will, 1/ 
hope, form an epoch in the history of man ; and from this day 
by our exertions, and by-the exertions of others, whom we shall 
provoke to zeal, the kingdom of Jesus Christ shall be consid- 
erably enlarged, both at home and abroad, and continue to in- 
crease, " till the knowledge of God cover the earth, as the wa- 
" ters cover the sea." When we left our homes, we expected 
to see a day of small things, which it was our design not t<» 
despise, but to cherish with fond solicitude. But God has be- 
yond measure exceeded our expectations. He has made a lit- 
tle one a thousand, and has inspired us with the most exalted 
hopes. Now we do not think ourselves in danger of being 
mistaken when we say, that we shall account it through eterni- 
ty a distinguished favour, and the highest honour conferred on 
us during our pilgrimage on earth, that we appeared here, and 
gave in our names among the Founders of the Missionanj So- 
cietij ; and the time will be ever remembered by us, and may it 
be celebrated by future ages, as the iERA OF CHRISTIAN 
BENEVOLENCE. 



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